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!
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
The night is here at last.
It's only been a couple of days, granted, but it's felt like... y'know, forever. Mateo has gotten in touch with Paige and told her the time and the place, and between them he and Ever have gotten together as much as possible by way of supplies.
Now the sun is dipping down in the Silk Houses, and the ice and snow crunch beneath their feet as they approach what was once a very well to do townhouse that has since fallen into disrepair. Lopsided and derelict, it stands behind a warped iron fence with gaping windows like many eyes to judge them.
"Whoa," Mateo breathes, his smile audible under his scarf, and he shifts his Bag of Holding on his shoulder. "This looks spooky, huh? So the rules are we need to stay here all night to sleep, and we're going to carve our names into one of the beams to prove we were here. Marny in school thinks there's a ghost, but Ever and I think she's wrong."
"Y...yeah." It did look spooky, and as Ever tilts his head back to regard the way the house seems to claw up toward the sky, he wonders why it's suddenly so important to prove Marny wrong. Tightening his fingers around the handle of his guitar case, the boy seems to shrink down into his scarf as Mateo explains the reason for this absurd adventure.
"I brought blankets and pillows from the hospital, and sandwiches and other snacks from the cafeteria." The Hart boy mumbles. It probably looks like he's only brought his guitar, which was precisely the point of putting everything in Mateo's bag of holding. He also panicked and packed a whole lot of other things too, but he didn't need to tell his friends that quite yet.
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
As soon as Mateo told her the plan she was in. The girl had been attempting to ghost hunt since Leafchange and now she was getting a real go at it. Even if Marny from school was wrong it would still be fun. Plus more time to spend with Ever and Mateo.
Paige adjusts her own bag that is filled with all sorts of goodies. Some bought and some stolen. No one paid her much mind given the fact that she’s already been seen running around the streets of Stormbreak with it on her bag and her staff in her hand. Which she has now. Although it’s been properly cut down to be more her size thanks to Mr. Harper.
She comes to a stop with the other two boys, head cocking to the side as she sizes up the supposedly hAuNtEd house, narrowing her blue eyes before shaking her head. ”There are probably just a bunch of spider webs and broken furniture in there.” Paige states matter of factly, turning to give Ever and Mateo a lopsided grin before she’s pressing forward, clearly nowhere near as hesitant as the Hart boy. ”Let’s go!”
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind They count me out time and time again
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
Let's go indeed. "Spider webs and broken furniture and ghOoOoOoosts," Mateo says with a warm chuckle as he hurries after Paige, and between the rest of the commotion in the Silk Houses, no one at all notices as the three youths slip in through a door that's barely held in place by rusty hinges.
So far Paige is absolutely correct. Moonlight bounces off the snow from outside and pools in ghostly light in what was once quite a grand foyer, and Mateo finds himself shivering not from fear, but regular old cold. "Okay, I think first we should find a good place to make our den for the night," he says, leaning down to open up his bag.
From it he removes three lanterns, lighting them up and handing them to his friends and fellow ghost-hunters. "Staying downstairs is probably a good idea," he says, grabbing a hunk of chalk from the bag as well and straightening up. "Can someone take this and mark the walls as we go, in case we get lost? I'll call for the ghost, see if we can spook it out."
First we need to find a good place to set up camp! Everyone has a lantern and is welcome to look around. Mateo will be shouting out for the ghost, and someone else needs to mark the walls with chalk so no one gets lost.
Having entered the house with significantly more pace than he would have done had he been left to his own devices, Ever tries to ride the wave of Mateo and Paige's combined levels of confidence. "I agree." Nervously said, if only because Ever absolutely isn't ready to venture upstairs (or gods, downstairs), he takes the chalk from Mateo's hand and swallows hard. "Though...maybe we should wait until we're set up before calling out the ghosts?" He suggests, flashing his friend a hopeful smile.
Clutching the piece of chalk, the Hart-boy sets his guitar down and goes back to the front door. Taking marked paces forward Ever scrawls something on the wall (13, door-foyer), and then turns back, fidgeting nervously.
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
Paige presses in behind Mateo, shivering at the chill in the air despite the multiple layers she's wearing, wishing for a moment that she had a thicker coat to wear. The girl bundles her scarf a little more tightly around her before taking the offered lantern. Even though Paige has no qualms with pressing forward or exploring on her own to mark the path, she lets Ever take the chalk, knowing that the Hart boy would likely be comforted by this form of taking notes.
"The best place needs a cleared area and one side that's closed so we can have our backs to something." Paige pipes up, pressing deeper into the house with her lantern held aloft, casting light through the darkness. She slips off from the others two, heading into a side room that looks like an old sitting room complete with a fireplace, coffee table, and big squishy armchairs. A promising start. "This room has a fireplace!" The Attuned calls out softly, making sure they can hear her, but trying her best not to yell and draw extra attention.
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind They count me out time and time again
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
Mateo doesn't try his best not to yell. And he doesn't hear Ever's plea not to call for ghosts until they're all set up, so his contribution to their adventure is to yell, "Yooo hoooo, ghoooooost! with one hand cupped around his mouth to amplify the sound. His lantern is also held aloft, and he offers an apologetic and dimpled smile to Ever as he chalks in their paces.
Paige has just called through that she's found a decent spot when something goes bump upstairs and thoroughly frightens Mateo out of his skin. Seizing Ever's hand, he's already pulling them towards the sound of Paige's voice until they're all sequestered away in the side room. "There's something moving around upstairs," he hisses in a hushed whisper, creeping behind one of the chairs so he can open up his bag again.
"There are blankets and pillows and things in here. We could use one of the chairs to block the door, and make a den that we could defend or something...?"
Mateo's thoroughly frightened himself by hearing a noise upstairs and has joined Paige in the side room (hopefully with Ever). The following tasks are on offer.
- 1 person to close and barricade the door
- 1 OR 2 people to start making the den using the materials in the bag
- (OPTIONAL) 1 person to investigate the spooky noise
About to point out that having their backs against a wall is the same as being trapped, the argument dies on Ever's lips as Mateo's voice warbles out. Chilled to the bone already, the sound of clunking movement upstairs is enough to have his blood turning to ice in his veins, and had it not been for Mateo's hand around his, Ever probably would have turned into a stone statue right then and there.
"—rrrgg!" The boy groans, stumbling in Mateo's wake and somehow ridiculously also trying to count the number of steps that they're taking.
"What?" Ever hisses, incredulous once they're in the side room. "But...but we can't stay here." He protests. "The point was to prove to Marny that there was nothing here, and there clearly is something here." So..you know, game over. We lose. Home time pls.
But then, because fear isn't everything, Ever bites his lip. "My...my guitar is still out there." He whispers, looking at Mateo hopefully.
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
The sound makes her jump, but the girl isn't as fearful as either of her counterparts. She'd gone poking around in the old jail and trumping through the Wilds all on her own. She wasn't going to be scared by something so silly as a little bump in the night. Nope! Not her! Paige straightens up, looking between Ever and Mateo, pausing as the Hart boy laments quietly about his guitar case that's still out in the main hall. "I'll get it! Then I'm going to see what made the sound. It was probably just a stray cat. I bet it's nothing."
Oh to have the confidence of a seven year old. The girl gives both of them a bright smile before she's practically skipping into the foyer. It's easy to retrieve his guitar case though it's much heavier than she was expecting. With a bit of effort, Paige manages to drag it into the small side room, placing it in front of the boys. "Watch my stuff." She chirps, shrugging off her bag and letting it fall beside Ever's things before setting down her lantern. The girl quickly shifts down into her only form, scurrying along the dusty floor towards the stairs, heading to investigate the noise.
Love you to the moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
One does nothing and the other does a lot, and Mateo is left holding blankets and pillows in preparation to drape them across two chairs. "Um?" he says helpfully as Paige just throws caution to the wind and goes outside not once but twice, and he exchanges a glance with Everest. "I'm not going after her," he says, very matter-of-factly. "You want to help me with this or play your guitar?" Because when a plan falls apart, what the hell.
Upstairs, Paige will hear further scraping and clunking and the dragging of what seems like feet, and she'll see a shadow flickering about at the end of a corridor. Maybe there's a sound of raspy breathing, too...
"No, I...that isn't what I meant! There could be—" But Paige is already gone, and Ever is left watching the shadows and strange sounds of the house swallow her up, wondering if he would be sent to the Needle if Paige died getting his guitar. Surely that made him culpable, didn't it? And—"What? No—" She's back and gone again so quickly that Ever doesn't even have time to register that she's brought his guitar until Mateo mentions it.
"I'll...help." He decides, sounding miserable. "This is all going really fast, don't you think?" Ever whispers as he reaches into Mateo's bag of holding to bring out a few rocks to help keep the chairs from moving around. (Seriously Ever, wtf). "I sort of thought we'd...think about things, first." He adds with a frown. In his mind they stood outside for a long time, hours maybe, before deciding to go in. And when they did, it was slowly with caution and care.
But if the song never stopped, it wouldn't have any magic So even though it's gotta end, I'll keep singing along
Any concerns they have fall on deaf ears. She's too curious for her own good. Up, up, up the stairs she goes. Tiny feet silent against the wooden floorboards. Only when she reaches the top does she pause, sniffing at the air, but she freezes at the continued noise. Her eyes narrow, ears flicking forward as her nose twitches, but finally she braves another little step forward.
Paige presses herself against the wall, a smidge of fear spiking along the bond, but she doesn't know that Ever can feel it. Just a little look. Then she'll go back. She needs something to report to the boys. Right? Right.
Love you to the moon and to Saturn Passed down like folk songs, the love lasts so long
My spores been growing by the day; my days been shining bright
"Bit faster than I planned," Mateo admits with a quick smile to his friend, and he busies himself in throwing one of the blankets on the ground once they've managed to support the 'roof' of their den, along with a few pillows. He of course wastes no time in crawling beneath it all to spy on the door, still digging in his bag for something that contitutes a 'weapon'. "I didn't expect there to be an actual ghost though..."
Up up up in the bowels of the house, Paige sneaks down the corridor and the flickering shadow continues along its flickering way, until there's a great jumbling and thumping, and she might see as something drops out of a window down onto the snow. And then it's simply... gone.
The boys, of course, will hear it too, and Mateo sticks his head out of the den with wide eyes, as if he might be able to see through the door. "What was that?" he whispers.
Paige freezes as the shadow moves this way and that towards the window before suddenly disappearing out of it with a crash. She's left standing there not believing what she saw. Finally, her limbs start moving and Paige shifts back, running down the stairs, boots pouring against the creaky steps. "I saw it! I saw it!" The Attuned exclaims breathlessly, pushing into the den and skidding to a halt before them, bracing her hands on her knees.
"It was like a shadow and all flickery. Then it went out the window. That's what the sound was. It just disappeared!" Her blue eyes are wide as she recounts what she saw to the boys. Finally she pushes into the little den, sitting down to catch her breath, looking between her two compatriots. "What do we do now?"
Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind They count me out time and time again
