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!
For every tyrant, a tear for the vulnerable In every lost soul, the bones of a miracle
Groaning softly, Seren slumped into her pile of cushions and buried her head away for a while. Thinking furiously, she looked up after a time and stared at the kitten Maeve had picked up. An idea slowly began to take form, and she reached for one of the pastries. Chewed it slowly, to buy time to formulate the story.
"Did you know? Back in the beginning when the world was young, many witches roamed the land," she began, and let her voice lower into a melodious hum befitting of stories. "They all had many wonderful talents - some dark and some light, and some right in between. One girl had the amazing ability to turn into a cat. Big and black it was, with a star on its chest, and in that form she loved to sneak into the houses of her fellow witches and steal cream."
Because what else would a cat find interesting?
"Now, this one time, our cat-witch grew a little overconfident, and she stole her way into the house of the most powerful one of all her sisters. A dark witch of a mean temper, who was very stingy with her most delicious of creams and did not want to share at all. She caught our friend in the act, lifted her by the scruff of her neck and laid a terrible curse upon her; eight chances she had to repay what she stole, but if by the ninth the debt was not paid, she would be stuck as a cat forever, and be forced to dine on souls for all her days."
Seren reached for the mother-cat and stroked her ears gently; the feline tolerated it, but it was an impersonal sort of purr that started up. Hardly affectionate.
"And so our friendly cat-witch was made to run from house to house and repay the witches for the cream she had stolen. And time and time again they made her use her shift to fulfill their wishes... and by the time she had finally scraped up enough to repay the dark witch, she had used up all her lives but one. When she returned to repay the debt however, a clever Gore Crow stole her precious price, and now she had nothing to pay with. But the cat-witch was not one to go back on her word, so she returned to the dark one all the same. She used her last shift to do a favor, like she had done so many times before... but it was not enough. And so she was cursed to remain in her shift forevermore, and to hunt for souls instead of sweet cream. So if you ever wander the forest at night, beware the sound of soft paws behind you. For it will be the Cait Sith, and the last thing you hear before she eats your soul will be a - "
Mrreaow.
The sound came from right behind Maeve, of a cat's deep, hungry cry.
In every dreamer a dream - we're unstoppable with something to believe in
✰ 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.
Maeve listened raptly, shifting between picking up sweets and sandwiches from the table to petting the kitten in her lap. Even Aidon seemed intent on listening to the tale, sitting up at attention, orange eyes wide and glowing. There were occasional flickers of curiosity and trepidation and even irritation when the cat witch lost her prize. So wrapped in the story, Maeve didn’t notice the other cat moving behind her until the resounding mrreaow sounded by her ear. She yelped, jolting where she was sitting before huffing out a laugh, pressing a hand to her heart. ”That was a good one. You got me.” Maeve laughed, flashing her friend a smile before releasing the kitten and straightening up, a devious smile curling on her lips. ”My turn.”
Dipping her voice into something cooler, soft and easy as she began to speak, Maeve arched a brow towards Seren, ”Do you know how the banshees came to be, little star? The story is truly quite tragic.” She began, placing her hands in her lap as she started to weave her tale. ”Banshees weren’t a common occurrence in Caido. The land had been free of them for many years. All of that changed on stormy Flowerbirth. A small Fae child asked his mother if he could go play in the stream and his mother worried for the boy, telling him no. ‘The waters have grown too high and rough, my dear. You will surely be swept away.’ Maeve paused, taking a slow sip of her tea, letting Seren sit in her unease for a moment.
”The boy insisted, telling his mother, ‘No, mama, no! I’m a strong swimmer. I won’t be swept away. I simply want to play.’ Again his mother denied him, shaking her head and waving her finger, ‘My dear, my dear, I cannot let you play. The water is too high and rough, you’ll be swept away.’ But the boy wanted nothing more than to splash through the water and dance through the rain. His mother’s warnings could not keep him at bay. So when his mother wasn’t watching, busy preparing for the day, the little boy whisked himself away and down to the stream he went intending to play.”
The room is quiet aside from the faint crackling in the fireplace, Aidon shifting around to the other side of the table to cuddle up against Seren’s side, dropping his head against her shoulder. ”So down the little boy went, splashing and jumping through the stream, but his mother’s warnings were all but forgotten. The little boy wasn’t the only one who wanted to play and the spirits of the wood came to frolic with him. They drew him deeper into the waters, goading and teasing him, uncaring that the water was too high and too rough for him to carry on. See, these spirits were harsh and cruel, feeding off the boy’s fear, intent on tasting it all up until his final fall.”
”His mother didn’t notice, until it was too late, that her little boy was missing and had reached his grim fate. Down to the water she fled, calling for her son, ‘My dear, my dear, what have you done?’ Her wails carried on, drifting through the wood, lamenting her son who was lost to her now. Merely food for the spirits who didn’t care if he drowned. The Fae wept and wept, tears running down her face, adding to the stream that already swept him away. Ludo heard her mournful cries, drifting through the wood and appeared to the mother asking, ‘What would you do if you could?’ She looked up to the herald, tears streaking her face and answered his question in her own special way. ‘I’d keep them all away if I could. I’d keep them from playing in this part of the wood.’ Upon hearing her answer and considering her plea, the herald simply nodded and said, ‘It will be.’
”With a wave of his hand a swish of his rags, the Fae mother wilted into a pile of bones. Carefully he wrapped her in his own special rags, cupping her skull in his own gentle grasp, ‘Keep them away, dear mother. Keep them away. Don’t let the children come out to play.’ So now when it rains and fills the stream, it is said that you can hear a distant scream. Trailing along the shore, wrapped in rags, is the spirit of a mother sometimes singing, sometimes wailing, but doing all she can to keep the children away. She doesn’t always succeed and many met the same fate. Now the world is filled with banshees, trying to keep the children at bay.”
Maeve finally finished her tale, letting out a breath before taking a sip of her tea. Not scary in the same way her friend’s was, but still a worthy story if she did say so herself.
For every tyrant, a tear for the vulnerable In every lost soul, the bones of a miracle
The tale really was more sad than scary, yet Seren was treated to some goosbumps and shivers all the same, while imagining the grief-stricken woman wandering the shores of the river, crying for her lost son.
A wistful sigh slipped from her, and she slumped over on her belly, sprawled out amidst the cusions with her head half buried in one of them. "That's sad," she whined softly, full of sympathy. "Now I want to go talk to a banshee. And pet a Cait-sith. I wonder if Delphia would come along..." It had been much too long since she met Mort's daughter.
Grimacing slightly and shifting about when the sore bruises on her stomach came under pressure, the girl sat up and rubbed it gingerly. Beckoning for one of the kittens, it came over and poked a playful paw at her abdomen. The glow of starlight intensified, and slowly the purple coloration began to fade, as the injury was healed. "That's better," she sighed, contentedly.
In every dreamer a dream - we're unstoppable with something to believe in
✰ 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.
Maeve had to bite back her laugh as Seren sprawled out across the cushions, whining as she buried her face in a pillow, "You can't talk to banshees, Seren. They will attack and chase you until you can't run anymore." At least, that's what she heard. Maeve didn't know much about banshees. She was pretty sure that they simply existed. The same way many things in Caido did.
"So how did you manage to get all banged up?" The Nightshade arched a brow at her friend, slowly shifting around the table to sit behind her instead. With gentle fingers she began to brush through Seren's hair, untangling the wild strands so that she might braid it while they talked. Maeve separated a bit of hair at her temples, braiding it back intricately to form one side of a crown before doing the same with the other side and binding them together at the middle.
07-15-2021, 07:44 PM (This post was last modified: 07-15-2021, 07:46 PM by Seren.)
SEREN
For every tyrant, a tear for the vulnerable In every lost soul, the bones of a miracle
"You can talk to anything if you just know the right words," the starchild protested. She kept watching the kitten and surreptitiously prodded her stomach until none of the bruised areas made her flinch anymore. Only then did she scoop the tiny creature up and press it to her face. It smelled of nothing in particular, only light and dust and maybe faintly of ozone, but its fur was warm and soft and she could always pretend.
Mainly though, it was just to hide the touch of color that began to creep up her face at Maeve's curious question.
"I sparred with that friend I mentioned. Sah," she murmured - it felt strange to say his name when he was not present. "I, eh... got a bit distracted, so he managed to land an elbow in my gut. But only after I headbutted him on the nose. Not... exactly on purpose, mind, but... yeah." Many reasons to be embarrassed there. Seren was feeling all of them congregate like heat in her face.
Maeve made it a lot easier to avert her eyes by circling around to sit behind her. Seren hummed with delight as slender fingers began to thread through her hair, and tried her very best to remain upright, rather than just melt into a puddle on the floor. It was nice to be fussed over like this. "What are you doing?" she wondered with quiet amusement, eyes half closed and clearly enjoying herself.
In every dreamer a dream - we're unstoppable with something to believe in
✰ 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.
Maeve huffed a soft laugh, shaking her head as she moved around the table to settle behind her friend, "Perhaps that true, but I would prefer if you didn't go chasing after banshees in search of conversation." She hummed, squeezing her shoulders gently before she began to comb through her hair with gentle fingers.
A dark eyebrow raised towards her hairline as she carefully began to braid back the strands from her temples, binding them in the back, "A bit distracted, huh? And just what had you so distracted?" Maeve couldn't help teasing, gathering more hair to add to the braid, creating something like a crown around the top of her head.
"I'm braiding your hair. What are you doing?" Maeve laughed, bending down to press a kiss against her cheek before she straightened up to continue her braiding.
For every tyrant, a tear for the vulnerable In every lost soul, the bones of a miracle
"Spoilsport," Seren grumbled, not without a smile. "Can you imagine, though? What a worthwhile conversation it would be." What a banshee couldn't tell about loneliness and grief, and other things too.
It would probably be far more intelligent than her stuttering awkwardness too. Where she sat behind the starchild, Maeve would be treated to the intriguing sight of red color slowly creeping up the girl's neck in an unmistakeable blush. "Nothing!" she blurted too quickly. "Nothing worth mentioning. We were just doing an unarmed spar. That's all." Had she mentioned that already? Seren couldn't recall. She was trying very hard to banish every memory of the whole situation, to the point where she squirmed away from Maeve's very platonic kiss on her cheek. Drawing up her knees to the chest, the young woman curled in on herself, inadvertently tensing up.
It had just been a spar. So why was the getting so worked up over it? Then and now - "I'm being ridiculous," she muttered, beneath a stern scowl as the glared daggers at her toes.
In every dreamer a dream - we're unstoppable with something to believe in
✰ 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.
Oh. Wasn't this interesting. Maeve doesn't miss the blush. The way Seren pressed too quickly that it was nothing was an obvious tell that it wasn't, in fact, nothing. Maeve arched her brow, releasing her as she suddenly flinched away from her kiss, earning her a curious look from the Nightshade. She then moved around to sit in front of Seren, taking her hands gently in her own, giving them a gentle squeeze. "Hey, it's okay. So you have a crush. That's nothing." Maeve soothed, instantly slipping into the role of more experienced in this area, doing her best to soothe the other woman.
"What do you like about him? Obviously he must have some good traits if he's caught your attention." She swiped her thumb across her knuckles lightly, settling across from her with her legs crossed, expression softening. "You can talk to me, Seren. You know that." Maeve offered her a reassuring smile and Aidon curled at Seren's back, doing his best to offer comfort as well to the demi goddess.
For every tyrant, a tear for the vulnerable In every lost soul, the bones of a miracle
Her knees were not alone, it seemed. Snatching up a pillow and setting the kitten aside, Seren crushed the cusion to her chest and buried her very warm face into it, until only nose and eyes poked up over the edge.
"What? No," she protested quickly - again, too quickly perhaps - muffled by the pillow. "it's not a crush. It can't be, I barely know him." It was not fair of Maeve to press the friends and 'you can tell me anything' card. "It's just... well - " she sighed. Frustrated, unable to put words on exactly what the gold-eyed boy from the woods made her feel. "Sometimes when we get close, I feel... I feel things. And it's frightening." There. That was as much of an admission as either of them would get.
The dragon behind her back was warm and so were Maeve's hands, but it was not very reassuring at the moment. Seren squeezed the fingers around hers and gently freed herself, grateful for the support but unable to stand the touch right now. Rolling her shoulders to ease the tension, she shrugged.
"I just... I like him, and I think we're friends. Being near him is very calming. But that's all I know, Maeve. I can give of my time and my powers and listen to problems and comfort people, and I can love them too. Even when they do stupid, ugly, crazy things that I don't understand. As long as it stays in my head, it's not a problem. But when it comes to - this - " she made a very abrupt, very flustered gesture to herself, her body, everything not of the mind " - I just... I don't know anything. You had years to figure it out. I got.. what, a month? Maybe less, and that time was spent with my mother. Away from humans."
Away from contact, exposure, even the will to explore what most people her age took for granted.
In every dreamer a dream - we're unstoppable with something to believe in
✰ 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.
Maeve didn't believe it for a moment. She knew what crushes were. This was a crush. She was quiet for a moment, watching as her friend struggled to wrap her head around this and finally she took a breath. "Seren, love, crushes aren't based on much. You like him. He obviously makes you feel something. Even if you don't know what that something is." She began gently, reaching out to rub her arm lightly, giving it a gentle squeeze. "The thing is... You don't have to know how to do it. I know that it's scary and that you haven't had a lot of time to figure it out, but this just comes naturally. Even if it doesn't seem that way."
Her smile was soft and reassuring, hoping that her words brought her friend at least some comfort, but she would understand if they didn't. "The thing to remember is that you ultimately decide where this goes. The pace it happens at. If anything happens at all. It's your choice."
For every tyrant, a tear for the vulnerable In every lost soul, the bones of a miracle
Again her space was violated, and this time Seren recoiled more abruptly. Her arm was jerked away from the soothing touch, her skin crawling as every cell within her body rejected the physical sensation. In an instant she had removed herself from the floor and retreated back to the armchair, where she curled up into a ball and refused to look at Maeve. Already guilt coiled within like a snake - Maeve was only trying to help - but she couldn't stand it. Not now. Not when her emotions were already in an uproar.
"If it's my choice then I choose that it's not a crush, and that nothing is ever going to 'happen'," she muttered, the upset wreaking havoc on her voice, even as she managed to sound completely mulishly stubborn. "I don't want it and I don't have time for it."
It had been nice when the concept of romance was still only a theory, something distant that she could occupy her mind with on spare moments. The idea of a person in a far off place sharing some kind of preordained connection with her har been interesting... and then it had faded away.
This... thing with Sah was completely different. It had to be. Or it too was bound to grow boring and fade just like... But perhaps that was for the best.
"I don't have time for this," she repeated, as if it had any bearing on her emotions at all.
In every dreamer a dream - we're unstoppable with something to believe in
✰ 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.
Seren recoiled and Maeve stumbled. She rocked back on her heels, thrown off balance by Seren's sudden movements, starlight billowing darkly around the starchild. The Nightshade fell backwards, barely catching herself with her palms, wincing as her back hit the coffee table behind her. She pressed her lips together, feeling a sting of tears at being so callously rejected, but she tried her best not to take it personally. Seren was upset and Maeve's own emotions were on a hair string trigger these days.
Despite her best efforts, the tightness that coated her throat couldn't be ignored, causing her words to strain as she spoke, "Okay, Seren. If that makes you happy." The words mumbled and just edging on broken as she shakily pushed herself up, rubbing at the small of her back as Aidon moved to brace her, concern slipping along the bond as he blinked up at her. The queen placed a hand on his back, using him to keep herself steady as she took a few slow steps towards the fall, intent on getting in bed.
"I'm going to lay down... You're free to share the bed if you want. It's plenty big enough. Otherwise, you can have the couch if you'd prefer that." Maeve gave her friend one more look, not daring to reach out and touch her again, knowing she wouldn't be able to take the way that Seren flinched away from her. The Nightshade knew when her presence wasn't wanted anymore. Plenty of people had done a good job of showing her that recently.
With that, she slowly made her way down the hall, pushing into her bedroom and not bothering to close the door behind her. Instead, she left it ajar before climbing into the too big bed, burrowing beneath the covers and burying her face in her pillow that had done a good job of catching majority of her tears. A job it would continue to do even now. Unable to help the visceral response, hormones running too high these days, Maeve let them come as she knew eventually these would fade too.
For every tyrant, a tear for the vulnerable In every lost soul, the bones of a miracle
Nothing made her happy at the moment. The adder of guilt coiled up like choking smoke in her lungs on hearing the wounded tone in Maeve's voice. Paralyzing, vicious in its unusual frailty. It made Seren's skin crawl all over again, with some insane urge to growl in frustration - just leave her alone! - but all that followed the Madame as she retreated was a tense silence. Blistering with fear-based anger that had no place in this cozy room full of comforts and pretty things.
Left on her own to stew, the silence of the room seemed heavy with reproach.
It took a long time, but eventually the soft pad of feet announced the arrival of the girl into Maeve's room. Draped in a blanket, Seren settled down. Not on the bed, or anywhere within reach of the other woman, but on the floor behind the foot of the bed. There she curled up, staring into the darkness while listening to her friend's muffled sobs.
"I'm sorry," Seren said quietly, to the patterned wallpaper and whatever shades that might be listening. "I don't always do well with touch. It's not your fault, I know you were trying to help. It just... became too much." A shitty apology, but it was the best she could manage at the moment. Even being in the same room caused her nerves to feel raw and exposed, mind reeling from topic to topic, shying away from everything that caused discomfort - so that she would not start to fall, spiral and drown in the oppressive darkness of them.
In every dreamer a dream - we're unstoppable with something to believe in
✰ 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.
Maeve heard the soft pad of Seren's footsteps and Aidon lifted his head, amber eyes glowing in the darkness of the room, watching as the blanket wrapped starchild moved to the floor at the foot of the bed. Only when she settled did he lay his head back down, a quiet purring rumble in his throat, attempting to soothe his bonded. She reached up to wipe at her eyes, shaking her head before realizing that Seren might not be able to see her, finding her voice to speak instead, "It's fine, Seren. Don't worry about it." Maeve dismissed easily, not wanting to give her friend reason to be further upset, but not feeling much up to discussing things further.
"Touch is the way I comfort people. That's how it's always been. It's a habit. M'sorry." The Nightshade murmured, providing the only real explanation for it all, sniffling once more as she banished the last of her tears, drawing in a shaky breath. She urged herself to sit up, peering down at the woman, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth as she bunched the covers up to her chest. "You can get in bed... I'll put pillows between us if that helps."
