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 the outlandishness of the note that has Isla looking further into it, and well... here they are. It's a good thing she thoroughly enjoys puzzles - and it's an even better thing that she enjoys travelling, because the fastest way for her to get to the Feverlands is by taking a portal to Torchline and trekking through the Oerwoud.
But she is here, however long it has taken, and he humidity of the air and the sound of gods-know-what all around are nothing compared to the anticipation of being able to see her friend in an environment that isn't somewhere that might persecute them both. Isla doesn't call out for Remi, however tempting it might be, and instead strolls through the marshlands and waits for him to find her.
There is no doubt in her mind, of course, that he will find her.
It's hard to know how long to wait when you aren't even sure if someone has gotten your message. Worse still when you don't know if they've gotten the message within the message. Isla was one of the most clever people he knew, but she was also busy. It was entirely possible that she'd glanced at his note, thought that he'd finally embraced being a complete and utter asshole, before tossing it into the fire. Or, likely not a fire, but the garbage, then.
Pacing endlessly and occasionally taking his frustration out on the strange creatures that linger in his footfalls and try to land on his shoulder from their perches high above, Remi's fingers flex and curl in on his palm in an endless cycle. It's only when a particularly bothersome alligator darts away in lieu of different prey that the alchemist partially shifts to scent the breeze; thereupon, unmistakably, is Isla.
Relief and excitement flash like fireworks in his stomach and the tips of his fingers as he eagerly, but quietly, seeks her out. "Isla." He whispers when she comes into view, his heart lunging into his throat which leaves his knees weak and his arms opening for her.
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
It's difficult even with Isla's enhanced hearing, to separate the sound of something that might be Remi from all the other noises in the swamp. And so the medic walks near enough without a clue, right up until she hears something that absolutely does catch her attention with how different it is to the gurgles and shrieks of the marshes. Her name has her turning, and all of a sudden Remi is there and Isla can't wipe the smile off her lips.
"Hello, you," she almost whispers, taking the few short steps to close the distance between them that she might throw her arms around Remi. "How are you? I've missed you," she mumbles, holding him tightly and smiling into the fabric of his shirt. "How's Ronin and Mateo? Is Mateo enjoying school?" The questions keep wanting to spill out, Isla shaking her head and laughing as she catches herself. "Sorry, I'm just excited."
As soon as she's near, he tugs her tightly into a hug, lacing his arms around the small of her back. "Gods but I've missed you." He gushes into the crook of her neck as he bends forward that she might not have to stretch up against him so much.
"We are all okay." He whispers, letting himself enjoy the familiar un-warmth of her before forcing himself to straighten. It was entirely possible that they had all the time in the world to talk, but it was also possible that they didn't. Still, her enthusiasm and Islaness was absolutely infectious, and so even as he stands tall, he doesn't quite take his hands away completely.
"I want to tell you everything that has been going on, but I need to tell you something else first. Just in case...this gets cut short for whatever reason." So saying the boyish joy falls off of his lips as colour dances in his cheeks, rising into his hairline.
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Good, I'm glad to hear it," Isla mumbles against him, and Remi will be more than able to feel her smile - as well as all her other emotions, given that they're currently hugging. She's as reluctant to step out of his embrace as he is, the medic gazing up at him with her hands still resting against his chest. "Cut short...?" she echoes, not quite understanding what he means but well able to imagine a situation where that might happen, and so she nods nonetheless.
"Nothing bad, I hope," she murmurs with a gentle smile, though the tilt of her head suggests she already knows it will likely be otherwise. "Do you want to walk while we talk? If we are cut short, it'll be less likely if we're on the move." It seems like logical reasoning, at least, though Isla could very well be wrong.
Though Remi tries to offer his friend a reassuring smile, she'll be able to both see—and feel—through it. Tensing slightly, the alchemist nods his head, but not before leaning close once more to place his lips against her ear. Even here, far away from presumably anyone who might be interested at all in what he has to say, still these words are best whispered. Had he not been leery of the consequences he might have let her bite him so that they could continue to speak silently.
Pulling back with eyes made concerned by what he'd had to say, his gaze wanders from Isla's left eye to her right as if one pool of pebble blue might hold different information from the other. Nodding his head over his shoulder to indicate they could walk now, if she still wanted, he holds out his arm that she might take it if she felt so inclined, though he'd understand if she didn't.
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Isla is prepared to set off into the marshes, so as Remi leans down and his lips linger against her ear, she pauses, and only then does she realise just how secretive the information he has to give her really is. She remains motionless, expressionless as he whispers to her, though wherever they touch he'll be able to feel the flare of emotion; fear, concern, a little bit of outrage and some deep and unclear calculations regarding what might come of this.
"I see," she whispers, letting out a deep sigh and slipping her arm through Remi's without really thinking much about it. He's been her friend for much longer than he's been the Greatwood Guardian, or she's been Overseer of the Hollowed Grounds, and so as she leans into him and they begin to stroll, she addresses him like a friend. "Thank you for telling me. You didn't have to do that."
What he wants is to tangle himself up against her and simply exist in this place that's outside both of their jurisdictions. He doesn't want to walk, or talk, or do anything other than linger in her presence, but the time for such things has long since passed, and so as she takes his arm, Remi stiffly exhales and swallows down this fresh flush of melancholy.
"I should not have told you." He admits, offering her a half-smile over his shoulder. "But I had to." Without more to be said—the ball was in Isla's court now—Remi tries to track down the joy he had felt when he'd first spotted her. "I really have missed you, you know." He says, nudging his shoulder against hers, his eyes bright and adoring.
"Mateo keeps growing like a weed. He excels in everything that he does." The alchemist continues, directing them around a particularly soupy bit of earth.
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I appreciate it all the more, then," Isla whispers, giving his arm a gentle squeeze and closing her eyes for a moment to let him lead them as they walk. Similarly to Remi, there's little more she'd like than to merely lean against him and enjoy this little reunion, but alas they are not the people they once were. It's impossible for them to be those people now, not with the weight of regions resting on their shoulders.
"I've missed you too," she repeats, smiling up at him at last and following his lead around the squishy earth. "And since we're sharing..." Now it's Isla's turn to lean up and whisper to Remi, as if to make up for the fact that he's had to spill his own secrets. And when she's finished, it's with a flush of silver on her cheeks and another gentle squeeze to his arm that she puts their work talk to rest.
Mateo is a much better subject, the medic grinning at the news of the boy. "I wish I could come out and see him," she murmurs. "I bet he gets into his share of trouble, doesn't he?"
With his head lowered like some tamed beast to hear her whispers, Remi at first frowns before nodding his understanding. "Noted." He whispers back, his smile a touch crooked. Doing his best to ignore the way his mind has fixated on the silvery highlights in her cheeks, Remi instead focuses on the slanted path that they've been more or less following.
'We could always meet up somewhere.' He offers, unsure if it's a naive thing to suggest or not. 'Maybe not here, though I'm sure Mateo would love to see this place." Mateo loved to see just about everything, so far. "If he gets himself into trouble, he gets himself out just as quickly." The alchemist replies with a laugh. 'He has learned that from Ronin, no doubt.' The ability to ease himself out of tricky situations with nothing more than a flash of a smile was not a trait he'd learned from Remi.
"So...I..." Chuckling bashfully, Remi's cheeks flush as he tries to corral his smile that he might be able to speak. "...I met Mort the other day.." He says leadingly, glancing at Isla over his shoulder.
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Even without needing to breathe, Isla lets out a relieved sort of sigh as they're able to step past this recent awkwardness, letting herself relax into this stroll through the swamp with Remi. "I'd like that," she murmurs. "Here, or perhaps the Oerwoud. Somewhere with ample shade would be nice, if you'd be so kind." She smiles. "Though Halo might be a decent option as well." If Mateo doesn't mind (and if he's as adept at getting out of trouble as Remi says) then it shouldn't be too hard to find somewhere for them to meet.
She tilts her head to hear him suddenly so bashful, the medic not sure she's seen him this way for years, and as he drops the Mort bombshell her lips part in a gentle gasp. "Did you?" she repeats, reaching out suddenly to wrap him up in another hug. "He's wonderful, isn't he?" Because of course Isla has felt what it is to be in Mort's presence, in the time after her adventures as a unicorn but before the Festival of Lights.
The alchemist wrinkles his nose at the prospect of Halo, punctuating it with a dramatic shiver. "I think you and I in Halo might be taken the wrong way." Remi points out as if he needs more of a reason than just the cold. "Just now the Greatwood has...toned down alliances with any other regions, which I think also has the effect of making me not particularly welcome in them. So the Oerwoud sounds great."
Surprised to find her arms suddenly around him again, Remi has to swallow down the urge to lift her up and instead just nods against her. "It was unlike anything else I have ever felt...I saw him before, long ago, but this? He held my hand, and it was like...like the vibrancy of the world had changed. Or like the cool breeze that had been blowing down my neck for years was suddenly gone." With dimples deepened by joy and love, the alchemist beams down at the Remedy. "I feel...I feel finally like I am okay again." Okay despite Hotaru and the twins, despite his brush with death thanks to Ronin's draconic fury, despite this ever-nearing war.
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Oh?" Isla begins, before the alchemist explains. "Oh," she repeats, nodding gently and already committing to the idea of the Oerwoud, to the details of it and where would be best to go exploring with Remi and his son. Of course, talk of Mort derails everything in the most wonderful way, and Isla finds her footsteps slowing that she might listen properly to her friend.
"That... Remi, that's amazing," she breathes, giving him a gentle squeeze before stepping back. If she could still feel pain her cheeks would hurt from smiling, and yet she can't seem to wipe the expression off her face. "I can't think of a single person who deserves that more than you do," she whispers. "How did you run into him? Or was he just... wandering around?" She chuckles, like it's unlikely. If only she knew.
As Remi's smile deepens, it doesn't grow wider so much as it seems to collapse in on itself thanks to the roundness of his cheeks and the depth of his dimples. 'I can.' The alchemist says with a self-deprecating shake of his head. After all the things he had done in his life and the people he'd hurt, Remi thought he deserved very little in the way of things going right. Perhaps he didn't deserve the twists of fate that had gotten Hotaru pregnant for instance, but certainly he wasn't worthy of meeting Mort.
"I...went to see Ludo." He explains. "To make sure that I was on the right track with...everything." Had Remi told Isla that Ludo had called him a near-mistake? He couldn't remember, though he supposed it didn't much matter now. "And Mort appeared instead and we went for a walk." This is said with an incredulous huff of laughter that has Remi beaming again.
Tilting his head slightly to the side and glancing away slightly from Isla, the swampy and greyish path before them melts away into sunlight grasses towered by peppermint bark trees. Standing in a puddle of sunlight stood Mort, looking youthful and wise. Even the illusion of it has the alchemist's heart soaring and without thinking, his arms have pulled Isla against him again that he might press his lips against the top of her head. "I love you, Isla." He whispers sweetly, and softly.
I'll stay here with you Until this dream is gone
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
