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!
It's not the first time he's been ousted or banished, and gods if there isn't something ridiculous about the fact that, on this occasion, he's headed out with the very person who arranged his first banishment.
Neron's anger does not burn hot, and so it isn't much of a surprise that he is silent as they trudge through the snow. His hands are buried in his pockets - black coat, black pants, black shirt, steel eyes - and focused on the way ahead.
But there is something markedly different in the way he walks; a squaring of his shoulders, a set to his jaw. It's something that says this is not over, even though it is. "You made the smart choice," he says eventually, though he doubts either of them really feel particularly genius right now.
I will not be told where to stand
I will not be told what to say
Morgan, despite her title of The Glacier, found that the further she got from the Citadel, Eunike and Neron alongside her, the hotter and more intense her anger grew. At her side she formed balls of snow and ice in her hand and crushed them over and over; usually in the Fangs she would pause to stop and look over the view, take it in, but even though she was leaving for what could be the last time all she could do was stare ahead and grind her teeth.
Better than screaming and crying, which was just under the surface.
Neron finally broke the silence and she glanced over at him. "I feel like a coward. Like I deserted my city." She admitted, voice quiet and shaking. "I should have seen it coming, somehow. I should have known, I should have banished Hotaru and Deimos when I had the chance and had I seen Noah's true colours I would have--" The words of violence cut short as she realised her anger was making her ramble and Morgan just shook her head instead.
"Foresight is a hateful thing," Neron says softly, his gaze flicking to her clenched fists, to the snow that forms and crunches between her fingers, and he slips one hand out of his pocket that he might slip it around her shoulders as they walk. "You are no coward, Morgan," he assures her. "You are alive and they have taken the Citadel. You might be dead, and they would still have taken the Citadel. The only difference is that you can work on tomorrow, from here."
Surprisingly wise words for a man who would sooner deliver punishment than mercy, but then everything about this stupid mess is unlike anything they have seen before. "So Halo is for the Old Gods now," he half whispers. "I wonder what will become of my brothers and sisters who live there." Because he was not the only Ascended to take up residence in the Citadel.
I will not be told where to stand
I will not be told what to say
Morgan fell in beside him and welcomed the arm around her shoulders, but didn't stop her repetitive snow destruction in her other hand. She needed something that would allow her to get out the tension, and it was better that than Neron, who was about her only ally left in Caido now. "This has been happening my entire time as Warden. Loren, Deimos, now Noah with them; they all lie to me. All construct plans behind my back and do not tell me any of their worries. At this point I have to conclude I am a poor leader, if my council do not feel able to come to me. I should not take back the command." Blinking quickly, Morgan stared off at the snow, again realising she was going off on a tangent.
So unlike her, but nothing like this had ever happened before.
As for Halo's Ascended... "I hope they have the opportunity to leave and the intelligence to do so. The Old Gods have the new 'Wardens' wrapped around their fingers and won't stop at mere takeover. They're all being manipulated into this hatred, this division. It doesn't have to be that way." The Ascended had not done anything to Halo worse than the Old Gods and she didn't understand where the sudden extreme hatred had come from; either the Gods were inside the minds of those she used to trust or they were extremely gullible, so desperate for power and approval they would toss aside human decency.
Neron snorts at that, unable to help himself. "You are not a poor leader," he says quietly. "It is not your fault that you have found yourself so frequently in the company of weak men who are not worthy of following your command." He doesn't believe that she shouldn't take back the command and he doesn't think that this is the end of things for her. But equally, he knows there is no rushing this - not the rage, the grief, the upset - and so he is the glacier, this time, as she crushes her snow and gets it out of her system.
"No," he agrees, "it doesn't have to be that way. All we can do, I suppose, is hope that the Ascended get out of Halo before they are banished or worse. When we get to the Hollowed Grounds, perhaps we can have Wessex send some correspondence to them using her abilities." Neron glances across at Morgan. "That is... I assume you would like to go to the Grounds, with me?"
I will not be told where to stand
I will not be told what to say
Morgan's eyes darted over angrily as he laughed, but she quickly softened, knowing that she needed Neron's brand of sarcastic comfort more than anything else at the moment. "Yes, but...as the saying goes. 'If you smell shit everywhere, check your shoes'." Sighing, not usually one for phrases or jokes, Morgan shook her head. "I cannot help but think I have somehow failed...or that the Old Gods are succeeding in turning good men into mindless slaves."
They'd all been changed so quickly, priorities and loyalties shifted in a second because of presumably, promises from Safrin. Were they all so weak of spirit to be so easily tempted?
That he'd ask if she was coming with him was so bizarre that it threw Morgan out of her thoughts of revenge and distress for a moment. Her hand slipped into his and she squeezed his fingers, nodding. "Of course. I assumed it was given that wherever we went, it was together, and the Grounds seems like the sensible place. We will have to find lodging and work there for now. Until we can..." She turned, finally allowing herself that look back at the distant Citadel; Morgan had intended to only glance but once she locked her eyes on the walls she loved and cared for, she could not look away. Tears began to form at the corner of her eyes that were blinked back as she left one love with another.
"Is that how it goes? I always thought it was 'if you smell shit everywhere, stop working in a barn'." Neron bounces his eyebrows at her, smirking and shrugging his shoulders. "There is more at work than Old Gods and politics at any one time," he murmurs to her. "Personal circumstances, the demons that live in people's heads... it all gets fairly messy very quickly."
None of that seems to matter, though, as Morgan takes his hand, agrees that she'll be coming with him. And when she does glance back at the Citadel, his fingers slip out of hers that he might wrap an arm around her instead. "Listen," he says slowly. "Just because this part is over, doesn't mean it all is. Come on - I'll tell you all about my dastardly plans along the way."
I will not be told where to stand
I will not be told what to say
Despite it all, Morgan snorted a laugh at his reply. Maybe, just maybe, he was right - that was as much as her defeated mind would allow her at the moment, but it was a step above from where she'd been. The world they lived in now was a far more complicated one than it had been when she'd grown up in the Citadel; even more so than when she'd become Warden. As tensions with the Old Gods and Ascended grew, mortal alliances would grow ever more strained.
As Neron put an arm around her she glanced back and gave a weak smile, then raised her eyebrows as he continued. "Already? You do work fast. Let's hear it." If nothing else, it would be something other than wallowing in her misery.
