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!
look who's digging their own grave this is what they all say; you'll drink yourself to death
There’s an underlying anger that hasn’t quite melted away from the Flood just yet. It’s something that simmers low, not quite boiling over, as he spends these past few days taking a full view of everything that’s damaged on his husband. The missing eye, the arm, the lifelessness and battered body of Nate something that burns behind Sunjata’s lids every time he closes his eyes to try and sleep.
And my, what fitful sleep it has been.
So it spurs him to seek out the Voice, for completing what he’s supposed to be asking of her, and perhaps a favor. A favor to ask her whether or not he might be able to fix Nate’s eye for him, so that when his husband wakes his vision will be complete, whole, perfected.
But he knows he likely won’t get much of a response on his own, reaching out to Isla to accompany him as he makes the walk toward one shrine he’s heard of but never been to before. One in the library, hidden away, hoping that Isla might be able to guide him toward it. It’s a bit of a tight fit, but he’s brought Nate along with, hoping that perhaps it gives her an idea of what they’re dealing with. He’s covered, of course, with a blanket of reds and blues, and once he’s been directed, he casts a glance to Isla before looking to the shrine and readjusts Nate within his arms. “Voice… I was hoping to speak with you on a few matters, if you have the time.” And he draws silent again, allowing space for Isla to speak as well, should she wish to.
Sunjata wishes to speak to the Voice! He’s brought Nate and Isla with him <3
look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it and what will you have left?
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Most of the time Isla can throw herself into her work to get away from stress or tragedy. But not this time. The arrival of a tear stained letter has rattled her right to her very core, and so when Sunjata asks her to join him at the shrine, she goes because she literally has nothing else to do. (It's a lie - there's a hundred and one things to do, but she doesn't care about any of them today).
She's checking over Nate as Sunjata speaks, her fingertips ghosting over the worst of his injuries, lingering on the missing eye, before suddenly it's her turn. "I wouldn't blame you if you did not want to speak with us," she says in a hoarse voice. "And I am sorry that I cost us an opportunity at Stormbreak. I know it isn't a chance we will ever get again. But I still want to help our family."
ISLA
when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die
the rocks work as hard as the stars, to be what they are
Static fills the air, filling it with a sense of frenetic energy that Isla's circuits will no doubt appreciate, might which might make Sunjata feel slightly anxious. Appearing with a hum of electricity, the Voice sighs as she gazes out into the Atheneum, hating this shrine most of all. How many times had she not so subtly hinted at remaking it? At removing the presence of the Old Gods? Ahh well. Everything in its own time.
"If I ignored you and punished you for making up your own mind, I would be no better than the Old Gods." The Voice says, her bright blue stare landing first upon Isla despite Sunjata's call. "And I will never be that, not even at the very end of my days. Your ability to choose and think for yourself is what makes you bright, and I would never see that dulled." Still, a monumental chance had now come and gone, and would likely never come again. That she was not disappointed did not mean that there wouldn't be ramifications in the future.
Turning to Sunjata, the Voice smiles slowly. 'Thank you for all that you have done in service of our family. I know it can't be easy for you, not with all the politics that come along with just trying to do the right thing."
look who's digging their own grave this is what they all say; you'll drink yourself to death
If he had the hands, he’d have applied a warm one to the back of the Remedy – to steady or offer some share of support – because Sunjata had no idea what the option was at Stormbreak until it was over and he realized swiftly after that it was a tough choice, one that rested solely on Isla’s shoulders. But he has his husband in his arms, one flecked with lightning scars and the other nearly blacked out by the wave tattoos that spiral up to his bicep, hiding beneath the feathers that haven’t been burned away by Caido thus far.
Much to his surprise, however, the Voice arrives. And with it, the feeling of static, like being too close to a 90s television that sets his teeth on edge, but he swallows it down just as he has with everything else that spurs him in discomfort. He swallows it down to view the Voice officially, to meet her face to face as she speaks to Isla first, finding some comfort in the words that leave the New Goddess.
It’s almost enough to jar him from what he wants to ask her, especially when her slow smile crosses her face and her attention is abruptly onto him. “I…” He stammers, takes a steadying breath, stands up a little straighter that has Nate’s head lolling onto his shoulder a bit more. “It’s mostly only ever been Safrin who’s given me difficulties.” He admits, opting for a bit of a jest to hopefully calm his nerves. “But, I’m glad to help.” At the end of the day he certainly imagines it’s the thing he’s been made for. (Rebellions for the underdogs from the other side, striking a particular chord perhaps?)
But the Flood clears his throat, his smile fading as the seriousness of the situation overcomes him and he moves to tug a bit of the blanket away from Nate’s face, revealing him to her. “I’m not sure how much you were able to see of him.” How much you’re connected, how you’ve been able to watch over your bright ones. “But, Ronin took his eye. I know it’ll be the third time he’ll have to suffer through getting his vision completely back. And, well, you know him. I can’t imagine he’ll be happy to wake up with it incomplete.” He pauses, the mixture of fury at the Huntsman paired with the fierce love, protection, and support he has for the demigod in his arms melding into something that calms his nerves. “I guess my first question is if it’s something that I, and Isla if she’s willing to, could quest for him so that he won’t have to when he comes back?”
Hopeful steel lifts to the Voice and he waits, for either an acceptance or a denial, before trying to figure out how to start the further questioning he has, wondering whether it’s something he should have spoken with Isla about before this point.
look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it and what will you have left?
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
This is Sunjata's prayer, but Isla is still grateful to receive an ounce of attention from her goddess. She bows her head, her smile sad and her eyes firmly on the ground lest she start crying - she's done enough of that for today already. Still, she nods, before falling quiet to let Jata take his turn at speaking with the Voice.
"I would be happy to help," she agrees. "I might have missed an opportunity to help our family, but my priorities are firmly with the Ascended now. Whatever we can do..." She shakes her head. "I want to see us grow stronger, to be able to stand against these threats."
ISLA
when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die
the rocks work as hard as the stars, to be what they are
“I want you to know that everything you have done for my family…none of it has gone unnoticed. The mere fact that you, especially blessed by Frey as you now have been, can and are willing to work with the ascended…it shows the world that there is yet hope for us to work in peace.” Smiling warmly, the Voice folds her hands into her lap as her electric gaze turns towards Nate.
“I saw everything.” She murmurs, and now the smile is entirely gone from her face. “Nate never has been one to backdown…” Said with adoration and sadness both, the Voice shakes her head.
As for his eye?
For a moment the Voice is silent, looking from Sunjata to Isla, and then the limp body of Nate. “I think it best we wait until he is awake again before making that decision for him. I am happy to heal his eye while he slumbers so that he can see regularly, but after what has happened I think he might want a very different sort of upgrade.” She says, raising one eyebrow suggestively.
look who's digging their own grave this is what they all say; you'll drink yourself to death
There’s a warm smile that blooms from the Voice that Sunjata finds his attention focused on. Pair that with the static that surrounds the area, and he feels completely caught off guard. He doesn’t know what he’s expecting, truthfully, but her praise is certainly a lead up into the conversation he wishes to have once the task of Nate’s eye is finished.
So he does manage a small smile, one that’s far more real and boyish, awkward in how he has never been good at receiving compliments or praise, lasting only as long as the Voice’s attention is on him. The second it drops to Nate, though, his smile has shifted more flat, as if he’s hanging on the edge of the idea that seems to stem in the goddess’ head.
Healing his eye, the idea of a different sort of upgrade – one that perhaps couldn’t be taken away so easily – is certainly an offer he doesn’t want to pass up. Besides, if he did want his eye upgraded again, he imagines all Nate has to do is ask, right? So he nods, immediately, figuring he knows his husband well enough that the Ascended demigod would like nothing more than to be able to see fully upon his waking moment. “Yes.” Sunjata replies instantly, his head nodding with the answer. “I think his vision is the most important to him anyway.” Because he can remember the weeks after that Fae had attacked him, left that scar bisecting his face, how hollow he had seemed.
“There is another thing, too.” He begins, readjusting Nate however he needs to should the Voice wish to work on his eye or appraise the damage first. “Frey did want me to speak to you, actually.” He casts a quiet glance over toward Isla, about to reveal a secret he's kept from the whole of the Ascended he knows, before his attention returns to the goddess before them. “About the war and life after. They’ve offered to help protect Nate and I when the war arrives, provided you agree. However, I understand that taking a big player out of it for your side would be… Not exactly ideal. So I’ve posed an idea to Frey where I – and Nate by extension and hopefully your approval – could make it into a space for not only us but for many to avoid the war to continue to sustain life and live peacefully, how it should be for all of us.” He’s never been great at words, however, he hopes that his point gets across. “Frey intends to speak to Rae about the possibility of creating such a space that could be hidden.” There’s hope in his tone that she may be understanding, that he doesn’t want to create another barrier, but he wants to create something peaceful, something where those that come to live within it aren’t subjected to having to choose sides. “I am open to sharing ideas you may have as well, of course.” His head dips slightly, his gaze dropping now to his husband in his arms.
He hopes it’s enough of the same goals that he might be able to be this middleman, this mediator, this in between for the New Gods and the Old Gods.
look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it and what will you have left?
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Isla furrows her brow as the Voice speaks about Nate and his upgrade, the Remedy nodding slowly. "I don't even know what his other upgrade did, but we can absolutely leave that for Nate to speak with you about," she agrees, smiling across at Sunjata. "Being able to see and feeling whole as soon as he wakes up, though... I'd probably make that my priority too, if I were him."
The matter seems settled, so when Sunjata continues (something which has her tilting her head at the Flood), Isla steps back to let him speak in peace. She does consider it strange, how many people are looking to make nEuTraL aReAs given how many actions consistently push the war forward, but it isn't her place to interject.
Isla will still be here but she won't post again unless she's directly spoken to. (:
ISLA
when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die
the rocks work as hard as the stars, to be what they are
"Alright. When he awakes it will be with two completely functional eyes." The Voice agrees with a smooth nod, before giving her head a slight shake to indicate that she did not require his body. Her work could be done remotely, as it were.
Sitting up and without a change to her expression, the Voice nods for Sunjata to continue. Listening silently as the Flood lays out his plans and ideas, the goddess remains entirely without movement until he has finished speaking. "This haven you speak of..." She begins, head tilted thoughtfully. "Would you tell all the ascended within that by choosing a brief period of safety, they might lose their lives should we lose the war?" The Voice wonders. "That this haven might turn into a mass grave once the fighting ends?"
With an almost childlike expression of sadness, the Voice looks from Sunjata, to Isla, and then down to Nate's body.
"I understand the desire and purpose of creating such a space. Not everyone is fit to fight and in reality, many would simply be needless casualties in this war if they were put on the front lines. Of those, I would accept their desire to enjoy the last moments of their lives if that is what it comes down to.
But Nate?" The Voice shakes her head. "Nate has been given strength and immortality that he might protect our family. That he might make a difference."
look who's digging their own grave this is what they all say; you'll drink yourself to death
Her shake has him retreating the step that he’s taken, stepping back and readjusting his husband in his arms again, understanding (even if not entirely) the extent of the Voice’s abilities. But he lays out his plan to her, regardless, watching as he tries to parse his words in a way that makes sense, that doesn’t get too wordy, that doesn’t lose its meaning – a feat he’s prone to do – only to feel as though he’s put on a pedestal with how still the Voice is.
It feels childish, immediately. Selfish beyond measure when she speaks, and there’s a slight hint of an embarrassed flush that colors his cheeks. “I understand that if you were lost, they would be lost too.” He admits quietly, refraining from ducking his head as much as he wishes to – instead, looking down to the scarred and smooth skin of Nate’s face, finding some semblance of strength within his husband to be able to answer the questions the Voice poses.
It's with a near heavy sigh that Sunjata flickers through the options in his mind, coming up empty again and again – back to the drawing board as it were. But it’s his job to be collaborative, isn’t it? To be the in between for what feels like such monumental weight. His gaze lifts to meet the Voice again as he nods, his understanding of what she means and the trickiness of the situation he finds himself in. That they all find themselves in.
“Is there anything else that I can do? Any options you wish for me to pose to Frey?” He pauses, working his jaw, the muscles feathering along the scar that dances along the side of it. “I can be your in between, if that is something you seek.”
look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it and what will you have left?
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
the rocks work as hard as the stars, to be what they are
Closing her eyes and nodding solemnly, the Voice offers Sunjata an understanding blue stare. "I know that this is not easy for you." She says softly. "I do not question your love for Nate, nor do I begrudge you your desire to keep him safe at any cost." Even were Sunjata willing to pay that price, the Voice was not willing to offer it.
"A haven for those unable to participate in the war though...that is an idea worth considering. A place of safety for both ascended and everyone else. Perhaps Frey and I might neutralize the area that no magic, shifting, or abilities of any sort can be used within. That way we might guarantee safety." Straightening her shoulders, the Voice fixes the Flood with an unyeilding, but knowing look. "I would support such an effort, but I could not allow Nate to remain within during the war. Too many lives are counting on him." It is worth emphasizing, if only so that they all might be on the same page.
look who's digging their own grave this is what they all say; you'll drink yourself to death
He swallows against the open admission the Voice offers, that she doesn’t judge him for wanting to keep his husband safe – Sunjata far too fractured and held together enough as is to be able to handle another one of those, the only reason things were slightly okay right now was because he was certain Nate would wake up. For now, though, his gaze is unwavering when the steel meets blue, the Flood holding his husband a fraction tighter to his chest subconsciously as he nods.
“I understand.” He offers quietly, dipping his head, reworking his thoughts on just how they might be able to make this work – that no matter what they would still have to be a part of the war, but hopefully Sunjata wouldn’t have those nightmares of being opposite of his husband, the two of them poised to strike one another down. “I will speak to Frey of the neutral area.” He vows softly, drawing his shoulders up a little bit higher. “Is there anything you wish for me to do for you?” He asks, unsure if the Voice needed someone that wasn’t Ascended to try and help their outcome in the war, someone who was willing to be that peacefulness between the Old and New Gods.
look who makes their own bed, lies right down within it and what will you have left?
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
the rocks work as hard as the stars, to be what they are
With a warm smile, the Voice shakes her head. "Not just now. Anything you can do to continue helping our family would be most welcome. But for now I think you should focus on Nate and yourself as well. You have made quite a few enemies by choosing to align with us, and I would not see you immediately throw yourself back into such violent waters so soon." Unlike the Old Gods, the Voice was not careless with those who helped her cause.
Besides, Sunjata, with Nate clutched to his chest, was clearly still grieving.
"Speak with Frey and depending on what they wish you to do, I will see what I can do to help." With a look to Isla, the Voice extends her arms to pull the Remedy to her that she might drink, before disappearing in a warm flair of electrical light.
