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!
"Good point," Mateo says, huffing the words out and reaching into the terrarium to prod at the soil, creating a perfect little hole for a seedling, when he eventually decides what to plant there. "Hey, maybe we could invite that girl to come with us? Paige isn't even from Stormbreak, so if she says she doesn't see a ghost, then it's gotta mean more right?" Kid logic dictates that yes, that is absolutely right.
"Mm, all night. We'll have to bring blankets and lanterns and snacks, and we'll have to find a way to figure out how to get inside and how to search for the ghost. Because we'll want to make sure we look everywhere." Rocking on the balls of his feet now, there's an expression on the boy's face that Ever will likely come to hate seeing. It's the start of a hairbrained scheme.
Something in Ever's stomach turns and twists as Paige's name is mentioned again. Unconsciously his fingers clench into fists in his lap, though he does nod in stiff agreement. Kid logic is infallible. "Yeah....yeah."
Rather than continuing to argue, Ever's mind begins to try and plan and fill in the blanks. If he couldn't pull the words back that had spawned this idea, the least he could do was make sure they went in prepared. "Paige can become a really small animal. A weasel, I think. So she can probably get us in." The boy says thoughtfully, rubbing at the brim of his nose. "And if we put everything in your bag, it'll look like we're just going for a walk." Two boys walking around with blankets and pillows and far too much candy would attract attention. But Mateo's special bag just looked a bit lumpy.
'How...do we find Paige? She lives in Torchline, right?"
"Ooh that's right, she can," Mateo agrees, his eyes lighting up as he lurches suddenly to his feet, arms wheeling to keep his balance. "Then it sounds like all we need is a time to go! Oh - we should also think of a way to prove we went in there. Maybe we can write our names on the inside or something," he ponders under his breath, going to root around in a nearby drawer as if there might be a suitable implement for such a thing (there is, naturally).
"She does, but she was in Stormbreak just the other day. We made a snowman together," he says of Paige. "I think she's here with her mother. Maybe I can find out where she's staying, and ask if she'll be here for very long?" All the handholding aside, he doesn't think the Hart boy would want to do very much talking unless he had to.
Frowning deeply, Ever tugs at a curl whilst tapping his foot on the corner of his chair. "So...if anyone said we didn't go, they'd have to go in themselves, to disprove it?" That would certainly shut Marny up. There was no way she'd step foot inside, and so she'd just have to believe it.
"Why?" He asks of snowman building, looking adorably confused. Happy to allow Mateo to take the lead in this (and in most things), Ever nods. "I can get supplies then. The hospital has lots of extra blankets and pillows, and so long as we don't mind day-old sandwiches, I can take them from the cafeteria." Biting at the inside of his lip, Ever raises his eyebrows as a question flashes through his mind.
"Exactly," Mateo says with a grin that's a mix of one of his fathers' sense of mischief, and the other's dimples. It probably (doesn't) help that he hasn't realised he's brandishing a knife while he talks. "And then even if they did decide to call us out on it our names are right there to prove it! So we win either way," he says, wrapping the knife in a rag and snagging his Bag of Holding from within one of the cupboards. It's already got most of his worldly belongings in it, but when does that matter to a bag like this one?
Dropping the knife inside, he offers it freely out to Ever. "So you can pack everything," he says. "You won't look so suspicious then, with all the stuff. And we can maybe go in a couple of nights? What will you tell your parents?" he wonders, tilting his head and already anticipating this to be the biggest problem for his friend.
Mischief and dimples aren't the only things Mateo has inherited, and it's with a held breath that Ever watches his friend gesture wildly with the knife he's holding as he speaks. "We win either way." Ever repeats, and though the words have a tone that sounds like agreement, the boy doesn't look entirely convinced.
But that's par for the course, here.
The mention of what to tell his parents has Ever drawing one of his feet onto the chair so that he can tuck his chin on his knee. "Oh." This doesn't...really seem like a situation that calls for lying. Besides, if someone knows where they are, they can be rescued just in case the ghosts turn out to be real. "Well...I think I'll tell them the truth. I mean, it's an abandoned house so it isn't like we're trespassing, and...as long as it isn't a school night, I don't think we have a rule against it."
No; neither Finn nor Tobi had thought a "no sleep overs in haunted houses to prove the school gossip wrong" was a rule their household needed.
Ever might not look convinced, but the verbal agreement is enough for Mateo at least for the time being, the boy's smile brightening as he regards his friend. It's not a smile that lasts, and it almost turns into a wince as the other boy continues, Mateo shaking his head slowly. "I mean... you can tell them the truth without actually telling them everything, right?" he asks, rubbing at the back of his head.
"Why don't you just tell them that you're coming to have a sleepover with me? I don't want them to worry, if they know we're at a haunted house. Not that I think your parents would believe in ghosts either..." Unlike his friend, the Taliesin boy already has a silver tongue, and he puts it to use without prejudice.
Ever's brow creases, foreshadowing the lines that will one day permanently etch his brow thanks to questions just like this one. "Well...technically, yes." He mumbles, frowning. "But...isn't leaving things out lying?" Lying by omission isn't a phrase he knows yet, but he's vaguely gesturing at something like it.
"I could, but what if they come to check on us? Since you live alone? Sometimes my dad goes for walks and night with my mom." Not conventional walks, since his mother is usually a dog, but already Ever's worried mine can imagine a situation wherein his parents casually find themselves at Mateo's door on the night of the sleepover only to find the boys nowhere within.
"Well, you wouldn't tell everyone everything all the time, would you? And that isn't lying. You are just leaving it out because it's quicker," Mateo explains, with an ease that already comes naturally to him, and it's likely only to become more perfected as the years go by. As for the other issue - the whole living at home business, he shrugs - because that's an easy fix as well, as far as he is concerned.
"I don't normally sleep here, you know," he says. "I usually sleep in a dormitory at the school. They won't need to check on us there because that isn't where they would go walking." It's a perfectly good reason, he thinks, already digging around for other things they might need to go ghost-hunting.
Ever blinks. His mind tries to reconcile what his friend is telling him with the network of moral fibres that his parents have already carefully woven for him. What Mateo says doesn't quite fit, but it doesn't not fit, either. "Okay. So I tell them I'm having a sleepover with you—which is true—but don't mention where because it's quicker." He repeats to make sure he's got it right.
'Oh. Well...that makes sense.' He says of sleeping at the dormitory. Ever's shifting feet and knotted fingers belay his discomfort even if he can't quite articulate why. And because he doesn't want to disappoint his friend or throw a wrench in the plans they've made, eventually Ever shrugs and nods.
"Okay. I get the snacks and blankets and pillows from school. I'll bring them here so we can put them in your bag. And you'll get the rest of the supplies and try and find Paige?"
"Exactly," Mateo confirms with a very Remi clap of his hands. "They'll know where you are when you say it's with me anyway, so it will save time for everyone," he says, finding all manner of obscure things in his attempt to get supplies for their sleepover.
"Mmhm, that sounds good to me," he says, nodding towards the bag of holding that's already near Ever's foot. "You take that with you though, so it doesn't look weird with you walking around with all those blankets. We'll go through it all before we leave."
Finally he seems to get together something supply-ish - lanterns and fuel for them, a toolbox in case of any problems inside the house, and some rope. "Maybe we could even build a den while we're in there."
'Oh. Good idea.' Mateo really was clever, which was both a blessing and a curse when it came to listening to him. Ever could never poke holes in the things he said or suggested. Looking down at the bag of holding a touch reluctantly, Ever bites the inside of his cheek. "Have...you ever like...been in it?" He asks, touching the bag with his foot. "What does it feel like when you reach in?"
Lighting up a touch at that if only instinctively, Ever blinks brightly. "Yeah?" Had he a tail just now, it would have been wagging excitedly. "Can I bring my guitar?" Ever is still too young to be self-conscious of his playing. Finn had told him that he was doing a good job, and even though some of his chord-shapes were a bit fuzzy and not all of his sounds were always sharp, he believed his father.
Gathering all his supplies to one side (he'll add them once Ever returns with the bag, because undoubtedly he'll have collected more by then), Mateo tilts his head and moves to crouch before the strange item, opening it up to peer inside. "I've never tried, no," he confesses. "Shall I try it?" He's grinning, and already one leg has disappeared into the bag. It only holds Mateo's school stuff and all his clothes right now, so it won't be a hard landing right?
"It just feels like you're rooting around in a bag," he says as he continues to try and worm his way inside, though he flashes his friend a bright smile at the guitar suggestion. "Great idea! Ohh, we could use one of the blankets as a roof for the den, and you could play and we could make shadow puppets with the lanterns."
'NO—' Ever says loudly, the force of his voice surprising even himself. Immediately he's on his feet, reaching out for Mateo as if to drag him from the clutches of some creature's mouth. But, as almost always is the case, his friend is perfectly alright. Still, the Hart boy's fingers are trembling slightly where they grip Mateo's shoulder.
Puffing a breath forcefully through his nose, Ever's lower lip puckers slightly, unsure whether or not to let Mateo go or keep holding onto him lest he somehow slip and fall into the space the bag is capable of making. "Maybe Paige can bring things to make puppets with." He murmurs, still unsettled to see his friend's lower body swallowed up the way it was. " Uhm...Can you get out so I can bring it with me?" Ever asks, tugging imploring at the hem of Mateo's shirt.
