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!
Trinket finally glanced up at the chandelier when it stopped moving. A tiny frown touched her lips. She commanded it once again, sway, but it was unable to move while being held. Curious.
She looked back at the man. He had made it stop. Even more curious.
She released the chandelier from her command. She tilted her head, unreactive to the stirring air, studying the man with an expressionless porcelain face, a perfect match for the doll's lifeless stare. "I did it to see what the people would do. I can make things move."
She set her doll down on the table and commanded it to dance. The doll began a simple, inelegant dance, moving slowly like a porcelain and cloth ballerina.
"It's easy," she said. "I can make lots of things move."
She glanced at the man's plate and commanded it spin. The plate began spinning in place, some of the food flying off in all directions. Then she commanded his silverware to bend. The fork and knife slowly bent themselves in half, entirely on their own.
She released everything from her commands. The plate and silverware grew still. Her doll stopped dancing, though it still stood where it was, watching the man with black, lifeless eyes that perfectly matched the girls. The doll was always under command to watch, to keep an eye on everyone. Its gaze had never wavered from Sah's eyes, even while it was dancing.
Bored with making silverware move, Trinket looked back at the man, waiting for his reaction. She was curious as to how he would respond.
Sah nodded, "I can tell." Before the conversation could continue, Trinket fully displayed her abilities. The Abandoned watched with amusement and mild exasperation as she wreaked her havoc. He was thankfully able to catch all his food and hold it in the air until she finished before then returning it safely to his plate.
"You can move things, but you can't change how movable they are, right?" He nodded towards the doll, "You made your friend dance, but you couldn't make them dance in the same way a human can because they lack joints." He paused in thought before adding, "Well... you could, but I imagine that would probably destroy them." The seams would tear if the doll tried to move in the fluid way some humans could.
"And you can bend and manipulate other things, but not beyond the point of breaking them, right?" Sah leaned forward curiously with a furrowed brow, "Or could you? If you snapped a fork in half, could you put it back together?" Trinket's ability was intriguing, so similar to his telekinesis yet so different.
12-07-2022, 09:20 PM (This post was last modified: 12-07-2022, 09:20 PM by Trinket.)
She considered the man's question, thinking of joints and breaks and elasticity. Big words and complex concepts, but they were part of the knowledge she had.
"I can make things bend a little bit. Just not too much." To demonstrate, she commanded one of the chairs to walk. It shuffled forward, the legs able to flex just slightly under her power. Nowhere near the way a person's leg would bend at the knee, but just enough that it could hobble forward, creaking the whole way.
The chair was boring, however. She forgot about it completely. It kept walking, continuing to follow her command since she had not actually released it from her power. It kept walking between the tables of the restaurant, customers and waitresses dodging out of the way, bewildered looks on their eyes. It started heading towards the street, then grew still once it got too far from Trinket, unable to move without her power nearby.
The question about breaking something in half intrigued her more than the chair. She looked at one of the forks on the table and commanded it to break. It started bending back and forth, one way then the other, trying to break itself. The metal refuses to snap at first, but the fork continued twisting itself back and forth, back and forth, fast as it could go. Eventually, the metal wore down at the point of the bend, and the fork broke in two.
Tilting her head, Trinket considered the broken pieces. She had never tried this before. She commanded the pieces to repair. They wiggled and wobbled on the table, pressing the two broken ends back together. But the pieces could not join. A slight frown touched her lips. The two pieces continued to clink against each other over and over, trying to reconnect, but to no avail.
Sah watched with a critical eye as Trinket tested the limits of her magic. As the fork snapped, a small smile came to his face. "Good job. Finding the limits of your magic is the first step to advancing them. Never stop experimenting with it and seeing how far you can go."
He held out his palm and let his lighting crackle to life, making it dance around his fingers before fading. "I have lightning and there was a time when all I could do is this." He gestured to his current small display before continuing, "But I kept training until it grew stronger. When I gained new elements, I did the same and it's paying off. I've recently mastered my air magic. My water magic still needs some work but watch this. You want to see the people do something interesting?"
With a mischievous grin, Sah called upon his magic, feeling the mageglass pendent under his shirt warm as it added extra power to still budding his water magic. The sky around the restaurant darkened, pulling startled looks from the patrons. The wind picked up, making menus and banners flutter erratically. The water from the clouds was urged and tempted until it began to pour right in front of the main entry. And with a flash, a bolt of lightning struck the same spot.
As soon as it began, Sah let the magic fade and the sky cleared once more. The confused and slightly panicked customers glanced at the sky in bewilderment. Meanwhile the Wild Thunder eyed the demigod in front of him. "See? You never know how far you can go until you push yourself."
Trinket watched the storm show, the only one there who showed no outward reaction. Not a smile, not a flinch, nothing but the movement of her eyes as she watched the events unfold. Only at the end, when the confusion and panic spread, did the tiniest smirk touch her porcelain lips.
"You like to play games," she said, looking at Sah once more. "We should play a bigger game. One with more people."
She stepped outside the restaurant, doll tucked under one arm held against her chest, bare feet trodding across the wooden floor until she crossed out onto the paved street. She glanced this way and that, searching for something interesting. People walking by. Boring. Birds flying overhead. Boring. A wagon rolling past...
Curious.
Trinket tilted her head to the side, studying the wagon. It was filled with fruit. It trundled up the hill, heading towards the market. The rear gate was held shut by a secure latch, preventing the fruit from tumbling out.
Trinket and her doll looked right at the latch.
Open, she commanded it.
The latch unlocked itself and the rear gate flew open, sending dozens and dozens of melons, pineapples, apples, and kiwis tumbling down the road, picking up speed as they rolled down the hill. People dodged out of the way, shouting in alarm. The wagon driver pulled his horses to a stop and jumped off the wagon, chasing the fruit and shouting.
Trinket showed no outward reaction to her trick, except for maybe a small smirk. She stood there, watching the reactions of everyone around her. Curious. So many people, affected by so small a command. Curious indeed.
She looked back towards the man, then pointed out into the city as a whole. "Your turn."
Sah raised a brow at the chaos Trinket caused, "Alright. But two rules. Every game has rules. First. we have to fix the things after. And second, we can't hurt anyone. Whoever can cause the most chaos without breaking those two rules, wins." He then took a moment to push all the fruits into a pile with his telekinesis and air so that the merchant could collect his wares and continue on his way.
He had a feeling that unless he laid such rules and restrictions the child might cause more harm than could be remedied. "Now, my turn." Eyeing the street, Sah then chose his target. There was a group of kids kicking a ball around. With a slight smirk, the Abandoned flicked his wrist and sent the ball rolling down the path, watching as the kids chased after it.
Using his magic, Sah made the ball twist and turn, dodging stalls and in-between people's feet. The children soon caught on and began to chase after it laughing as the pedestrians jumped out of the way. He made sure to keep the kids away from carts or other dangerous things. The other pedestrians however found themselves struggling not to trip or be knocked over by the kids though the hunter ensured that they came to no true harm, using his air magic to help people keep their balance.
Once the ball came to the end of the block, he rolled the ball to a stop and the children quickly retrieved it, still giggling. The rest of the people on the street collected themselves, though many still looked baffled.
Trinket tilted her head as the man listed his rules. "Why do we have to fix things? That's boring. Breaking things is more fun."
She watched as the man played with the children and their ball. Her attention was not on the children, however. Instead she watched the adults. She watched the way they dodged out of the way, nearly but not quite being knocked over. Hmph. A little chaos, but nowhere near enough.
"That was only a little trick," Trinket said. "You can't win the game with little tricks."
She looked around, searching for a big trick to do. Something the man wouldn't just be able to undo so easily. Something fun.
She watched the wagons and carts rolling by. So many people, going about their lives. Moving things from one place to another. Boring. She would make them all have more fun.
She started walking down the street, giving little commands to every wagon she passed. Unscrew, she commanded the hubcaps. Unbuckle, she commanded the straps and reins on every horse. Stop, she commanded the wheels, locking them in place. One by one, all down the line, most of it too subtle to be noticed.
As they rolled past her, the wagons started to fall apart. Wheels fell off. Horses broke free. Moving parts got jammed up. Seats fell apart. The traffic all down the road turned into chaos as drivers tried to control their vehicles. One crashed into a vendor stall, spilling good everywhere. Another started rolling backwards downhill as its horses broke free. People ran about, trying to catch the animals and gather up the lost goods.
These people led boring lives. The same old routine, day after day, going to work, going home, nothing interesting happening. Until today.
Trinket surveyed her work. Dozens of people were having the most interesting day of their lives.
Well, Sah was half right. The child was certainly a bringer of chaos and harm, but her idea of what constituted a game was flawed if she ignored the rules of them. And although he was deeply disturbed about what this suggested about Trinket's mental state, he hid it behind a calm facade.
The Abandoned simply tsked and shook his head, "You broke the rules. You lose the game." He gestured to the commotion, "My trick was smaller yes, but I fixed and prevented damage,.." his eyes locked with Trinket's empty ones, "...you didn't. So, either you can accept defeat, or you can try again."
"I didn't agree to those rules," Trinket said, no hint of emotion in her voice. "But I will try again. I'll do something that doesn't need to be fixed."
She turned back towards the street, dark eyes scanning the passerby. Everyone was still frantically trying to get things back in order after the chaos she'd caused. But with the initial confusion over, they were now starting to work together. Pedestrians were helping the merchants collect their animals. Children were helping pick up the lost goods. Everyone was...cooperating.
Boring.
Her eyes fell on one of the horses. The handlers had gotten it mostly under control, though it was still shaking its head and resisting being tied back to the wagon. The animal was being interesting. She would make it more interesting.
She gave a command to the buckles on its straps: pinch. The horse got a quick, hard pinch that sent it into a panic. It reared back on its hind legs, kicking its forelegs chaotically. The people nearby yelled and backed away. A couple of nearby children ran away in fear.
Fear was interesting.
She started to turn back to the stranger, to show him the fear she had caused. But a sudden shout drew her attention back to the horse. The handler was still trying to get it under control. The horse was kicking wildly. One of its hooves smacked right into the man's head. He fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from the scalp.
Internally, Sah was cursing up a storm. Externally however, he simply sighed, "You lose, again." Standing, the Abandoned rolled his shoulders back, "I have to go help with that now." He glanced at Trinket, "Want to learn how to tend to injuries?" Then, without waiting to see if the child was following, he made his way over with quick strides.
Sah only knew basic first aid, but he did know how to assist, and a healer was already at the man's side. The Abandoned took a knee and with a few exchanged words, began to apply pressure to the wound while the healer quickly gathered their supplies. Within minutes, the healer was stitching the man up while Sah handed gauze and bandages when prompted.
12-14-2022, 09:27 PM (This post was last modified: 12-14-2022, 09:28 PM by Trinket.)
Trinket merely watched as the man was tended to. She was not used to the sight of blood. It was curious. She watched the stitching process especially closely. She wondered what it felt like, having the needle pierce one's skin over and over again. It must have been an interesting sensation.
She had bled once before. She hadn't been stitched, however. It seemed like a curious experience to try.
Without word or expression, Trinket walked back to the restaurant. She took a steak knife from one of the tables. Walking back towards the healer, she raised the knife to her own head. Without a sound, without a flinch, without even so much as a tear in her eye, she sliced the sharp knife across her temple and forehead. The cut was deep, and blood started streaming down her face.
Trinket stood there, unmoving. The bloody knife dangled from one hand, her doll from the other. Blood dripped from her forehead over one eye, down her cheek, down her arm, and onto the doll, staining the doll's face red.
"I need stitches," Trinket said, her voice flat and emotionless.
12-14-2022, 10:00 PM (This post was last modified: 12-19-2022, 11:11 PM by Sah.)
sah
Sah glanced at Trinket and then to the knife in her hand, his eyes going wide. "Why did you cut yourself?" He asked, barely managing to keep his voice calm. The healer glanced up wildly and opened their mouth with an expression of horror but the Abandoned nudged them with his shoulder before they could say anything. Normal rationality wasn't going to work on the demigod, that much was clear.
Another individual switched with Sah to aid the healer. Waving another doctor forward, the Abandoned took a kit and took a knee so that he could reach Trinket's face. Gently, he removed the knife from her hand let it drop to the ground. Taking gauze, he began to apply pressure on her wounds. "Here, hold these in place while the doctor gets ready." The said doctor arrived soon after, and with a furrowed brow began to stitch up the demigod.
"I cut myself so I could get stitches," Trinket said simply. "Why else would I do it?"
She tried to watch what the healer was doing, but it was hard to see what was happening as they stitched her own forehead. She considered that maybe she should have cut her arm instead.
Unable to see, Trinket simply focused on the sensation of the needle piercing her skin. There was pain, then a tugging sensation as the thread was pulled through. She registered the pain as a curiosity, showing no outward signs that it bothered her in the slightest.
"Will it leave a scar?" she asked curiosly. She knew that cuts could leave scars, and this was a rather deep cut, but she wasn't sure if it would be enough to leave a scar.
"Have you ever had stitches?" she asked Sah. "It feels interesting." She had not so much as flinched as the needle pierced her skin again and again.
Sah's horror and concern grew as Trinket spoke, but he took great care to school his features. "Don't harm yourself on purpose, especially not for curiosity." He regarded the girl sternly, "If you do, you'll eventually lead to your own death without intending to." Even if she had so little self-preservation, surely that would at least be comprehensible? Gods, he hoped so.
The healer gave a slight shrug at Trinket's question, so Sah clarified. "It might. But it's too soon to tell. Healing isn't always predictable." As for himself, the Abandoned hummed in thought. "Yes, twice. For much graver injuries."
He pulled the collar of his shirt down to reveal a large, jagged scar of a bitemark. "This was the worst one. Left by a monster of the Voice's creation." The last Longnight monster ever spotted if he recalled correctly.
