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!
She had never once considered he would deny her this small, vulnerable request, and yet when he agrees readily it brings her peace anew. But as he begins to contemplate, muse, prepare - always one to move his hands and feet when tasked with the caring and healing of someone - she interrupts quietly against his chest. "Can we - as our animals?" It's a disjointed question, almost childlike. She has watched over Flora as a mountain lion most days, finding what little respite form grief that she can in the simplicity of sinking into more animalistic tendencies, a lack of higher thinking. To be curled up together in front of the hearth until she slips into sleep is all she can ask for in this moment. Whether he stays beside her or retreats to his own bed doesn't matter, so long as he is there when she finds slumber.
"Both, please. Though no alcohol." She is reminded sharply of the fact that she has eaten nearly nothing in her grieving days. Always ensuring Flora does - and looking away when the girl conspicuously shuffles the edibles around her plate to affect an image of consumption - but admittedly not doing the same for herself. Already Hotaru had not been much of a drinker, something Deimos already knows. A woman intent on control, both of herself and others, did not have need for mind-altering substances. But she had also always known that the allure of the bottle shone too brightly for someone as plagued by hurt and loss as herself. She has always known that one sip too many, one bad day extended into weeks and months of incoherency, would be her swift downfall.
Feel the fear and swallow back the tears Let weakness disappear, there's nobody but me here
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
He paused in his restless motions, not considering the choice odd, but he’d never heard her express such a request. They hadn’t started out as Attuned – they’d be the mages, the strong and enduring enchanters, bringing the world together or apart based on the destruction lodged between their veins. By logic, persistence, perseverance, and assimilation, they’d broadened their horizons into deities, heralds, and what they could offer – so perhaps the comfort and ease of pack life, of animals, of something greater than themselves was repose to her now. Glancing down at her, brow arching slightly, permitting some light humor to flicker through again, he slipped another massive breath through his chest. “Do you have a preference?” All his shifts were massive – the smallest being the eagle – and could hog the entire hearth if necessary.
Placing her gently back upon the couch while he rose to snag at something for her to eat or drink, and leaving her to process the inquiry, he nodded his head at the other notions. Deimos knew better - both of them had learned from prior occasions of grief and rage, and while they didn’t have anyone or anything to scorch, maim, and destroy in this moment, there was no need to heighten the anguish, despair, and contempt.
Instead, he returned with easy things for an empty stomach: water, crackers, fruit and vegetables taken from the greenhouse earlier that day. Arranged on a plate and handed over to her, he snagged several carrots for himself, before allowing her to peruse at her leisure.
Perhaps their inherent nature as magic users is exactly why it is so appealing. No matter how many years go by with Attuned abilities, they were never inherent, and the primordial sides all the stronger for it. His easy acceptance is a relief, and the slight spark of humor in the lines of his face make her own lips tremble in some half-forgotten urge to do the same that dies too fast for her hands to catch. "Your tiger? So we can both be cats." They'd never had to struggle with urges too strong to handle, predator and prey, but the similarities would be comforting.
It is a monumental task to not reach for him as he deposits her gently onto the couch, alone. Hotaru counts his footsteps instead, trying to time her breathing to the cadence of his gate. It keeps the panic at bay until he returns with a plate laden with food. She observes them all with empty, listless eyes as he picks his own from the menagerie, and forces herself to grab a cracker and begin nibbling at it. Once it hits her stomach the pain immediately sets in, reminding her of how she has gone too long without food, and her pace increases reluctantly. Words entirely drained despite how little they've realistically spoken, she consumes in silence, until the pangs disappear and turn into the discomfort of over-fullness. Hotaru positions the plate further on her knee to silently signal Deimos is welcome to the rest, and doesn't fight the way her head begins to droop and her breathing begins to slow. It has been such a long night, one of many, and it is the first she has felt safe enough to truly rest.
Feel the fear and swallow back the tears Let weakness disappear, there's nobody but me here
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
The only inherent force of Attuned portions might’ve been the predacious, carnivorous schemes – the way in which they’d had to pick worlds apart, bone by bone, blood by blood, to ensure theirs thrived, survived. In a way, it wasn’t much different here in those aspects – though perhaps not as contemptuous or barbaric. So he muffled another laugh as she picked the larger feline aspects, corresponding with a nod, as she picked over food, and he tended to the flames, ensuring they wouldn’t fade.
Turning to glance over his shoulder, and seeing she’d taken her fill, he snagged a few more things with an indulgent shake of his head, setting it along an end table in case she got hungry again in the middle of the evening. He didn’t acknowledge the way her guard slipped further, how her head drooped and sidled, how her entire entity seemed to simply ask for rest. There was no need.
Instead, he merely shifted before the fire, all fur and mass, for whenever she found herself ready.
Her voice is a fearless proclamation of protection She lives what's within her out loud
The long blinks are her first indication, and though she only half-recognizes Deimos taking the remaining food and placing it within reach of where they will bed down, she is coherent enough to know she can't last much longer. So while she still has some level of grace, she slides from the sofa onto her knees, and lets the change overtake her there.
Everything is simpler with an animal's mind. Though she is still herself, the predator is front and center, and the grief of a lost cub is far shallower than the human loss of a child. The fire is warm, and Deimos' fur is warmer, and it chases away the cold that lingers somewhere between ribs and sinew. She curls herself tight in the space between paws and belly, her own tail brushing just beneath her nose. Small, untouchable with him around her. I love you, she murmurs, half-asleep already. Like a 'goodnight', with how easily it comes. And as the darkness behind her lids coalesces and takes her under, she doesn't have to hear his response to know he feels the same.
- Fin <3
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.
