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!
The problem with having birthed a mini-me is when you have truly annoying habits that you would not normally tolerate in other people now existing in the one creature you're supposed to love eternally. Flora is the jewel of her heart, but she unfortunately did get many of Hotaru's personality traits. Today, that is being sneaky.
A singular person booking an entire weekend at her spa and requesting Hotaru specifically should have tipped her off, but realization doesn't dawn until the bell at the front rings and she comes out to see her daughter at the check in desk. Fondly exasperated and immediately dropping her mild, professional expression, the Valkyrie emerges from the doorway to descend upon her daughter in a cloud of kisses - though she doesn't miss the opportunity to shake her by the shoulders a little.
"You little minx, I should have known it was you," she laughs into blonde hair before releasing Flora, hand gently cupping her cheek as she takes her in. It's a rare treat to have the Doubletake in Halo after all. "I'll lock the door and change the sign. You go change and I'll meet you in the mud bath." Flora knows this spa like the back of her hand, so Ru doesn't mind letting her gallivant about. There's nothing sticky fingers can pick up here anyway.
Time skip past all the boring, and Ru gracefully descends the stone steps into the mud bath to sit next to her daughter, hair tied in a messy bun atop her head. "I know we didn't get to talk much after the grand opening," mostly just some goodbyes at the door before Ru flew home, "but it was amazing. I'm so proud of you flower."
Oh, drunken gods of slaughter You know I've always been your favorite daughter
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.
Smiling widely and seemingly all the more cheerful for her mother's admonishments, Flora can only scrunch her nose endearingly. "One, absolutely you should have known it was me, and twooooooo-" Flora sings out this last vowel as she wraps her arms around her mother's shoulders. "-I wouldn't have to be sneaky if you weren't such a workaholic." She adds, quite pleased that her ruse had worked as well as it did.
Blowing her mother a kiss as she flounces down the familiar hallway, Flora strips her body clean of all the heavy clothing she'd brought with her to endure Halo, and donned a robe so plush it felt like being hugged by a cloud. Gods, no wonder the spa was always busy. Humming to herself as she slipped on a pair of sandals and made her way into the portion of the spa which housed the mud baths, Flora mirrors the hairstyle her mother will soon be sporting, as she lets her robe slip from her shoulders that she might fully immerse herself in the warm and somehow primal mud.
Not bothering to open her eyes until she felt the mud ripple around her, Flora grins a Chesire smile and shrugs her shoulders. "It's okay, we were both pretty busy." Cracking open one eye, she tilts her head back against the lip of the bath. "But do you really think so?" The Doubletake wonders, clearing fishing for a compliment that she's quite sure her mother will provide.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
Ru stores that little tidbit away to complain about later, because it's more important to lock everyone out and ensure they have no interruptions. Though she certainly won't be forgetting about it; workaholic? The repetition of this phrase from her cohorts is becoming downright insulting.
It's leveled out by Flora's compliment, because Hotaru certainly takes it as one, mirroring her toothy grin with something vixenlike and deeply pleased with herself. "All the more reason for pride," she sing-songs, only softening when Flora turns those big beautiful eyes on her. Hotaru is the best kind of enabling mother; always effusive and transparent in her praise and equally ready to kill someone outright for speaking ill of her daughter. "Absolutely I do. Your network is positively envious, and your connections to each person kept everyone in line and well-behaved. That is a power I am proud to see in you." Especially because they had obeyed not out of fear of Flora hurting them necessarily, but to please and appease her.
"The real question is, do you have plans to do anything with it?" All those people at her disposal, surely Flora must have some youthful desire to inspire the exertion of her will.
Oh, drunken gods of slaughter You know I've always been your favorite daughter
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.
Practically glowing, and had she been Ronin's daughter instead of Remi's she might literally have been, Flora swallows back a small trill of joy as she slides closer to her mother, stretching her long legs across Hotaru's lap. "I'm honestly surprised how good everyone was. I thought there would be at least one fight." Said as if she wouldn't have minded if there had been, Flora shrugs lightly. Mud pools in the deep wells caused by her clavicle, painting her body a deep and dark chocolate brown.
"Welllllllll..." Hotaru had heard about Flora's bid for power of course, so perhaps the logical next step would have been to overthrow Harper (or Hadama even, why not). "I may have revived the Thieves Guild in Torchline." She admits with a wolfish smile, glancing at her mother from beneath her thick lashes. "If I can't rule Torchline at least I can make sure it stays profitable and fun the way it used to be." Flora continues, before wiggling her toes in time with the dance of her eyebrows.
"And I thought just maybe..." Reaching for her mother's arm and tangling her own around it, Flora hugs the Valkyrie close. "...you'd want to join? Not just as my mom, but.." The girl shrugs. For all Hotaru was as a mother - capable, kind, vicious when needed, an inspiration and role model - she was so much more than that. Though sometimes Flora was loathed to admit it (especially when it came to men like Danta) it was as undeniable as her beauty and allure.
"Because you're you."
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones, bones.
You've encountered the OG random event! This allows you to skip one levelling requirement with the character in this thread. (Unfortunately does not count for characters over level 10, how sad.)
Normally Hotaru would utterly agree, but given she'd had history with nearly every single head in that bar it was probably for the best that it hadn't happened. Instead she merely laughs delicately and reclines against the smooth stone at her back, hands falling on Flora's legs as they come across her lap and beginning to massage at her calves. They would surely use the massage tables later but it was always nice to share physical affection with her daughter.
Given George had gotten caught out on their date she doesn't even pretend to be surprised. Pleased? Absolutely. Hotaru looks like the cat who got the cream, and it's not even her Guild. "If you wanted to rule you know you merely need say the word, though I think this goal is far more fun than leadership." That's why Ru doesn't seek it out herself or so will be my excuse.
Joining is a little more surprising. Hotaru would be a great ace up Flora's sleeve, but then again it would also mean she could only come to her for larger things. The hand attached to the arm Flora clings to removes itself from massaging to instead lift out of the mud to hold her back, charmed by the flattery. "There is someone in your ranks I have my eye on," she teases, as if that reason is somehow stronger than Flora's own request. Deimos will surely be disappointed if she must withdraw from the MHG, but killing things was a firm second on her roster of favorite things to do. "Really though I'd be honored. Though don't think I forgot your workaholic comment - it's merely convenient this will bring me to Torchline more, hm?" Using her mud-coated fingers to pinch at Flora's cheeks with a gleam in her eyes, smearing it on the woman's skin.
Oh, drunken gods of slaughter You know I've always been your favorite daughter
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.
Humming contentedly as her mother's fingers move against her calves, Flora's expression of utter relaxation becomes appropriately amused as she rolls her eyes. "Well, I did try and name-drop our family in order to be elected.." She admits, shrugging innocently. "Our demigod connections, and your connections in Halo...Harper the Stalwart just twisted it all around though." Stormclouds were beginning to brew in the Doubletake's eyes as she glared down into the mud. "But you're right. I don't want to lead anymore. Now I just want to make all the right connections so that I'm stronger than they are." Having her owl guild, especially a Thieves guild, was already yielding results in that regard.
Leaning back slightly if only to give Hotaru a stage for her feigned surprise, Flora bites the inside of her cheek mischievously before her eyebrows suddenly slam together. "Who?" She all but demands, before softening. As formidable as the Doubletake could be, all she was paled in comparison to the Valkyrie. If they both were after the same person...gods, Flora wouldn't stand a chance and she knew it.
Receiving the pinch to her cheeks with her chin held high as if this were some decadent spa treatment instead of motherly fussing, Flora beams to show off her new brown blush. "Please tell me you don't mean Danta." She guesses after a moment, before fainting dramatically against her mother. "He's so gross."
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
She can see the dark clouds rolling in on their golden day, and gently uses her thumbs to ease the tension from the backs of Flora's knees, happy to be confided in. "Hm, you have to be subtle when undermining someone who appears a better candidate; draw out their flaws instead of shining your own spotlight, play innocent and concerned." Touch turning distinctly ticklish, she holds Flora's calf in one hand and swipes her thumb up the arch of that same foot with the other, grinning. "But regardless it is their loss, and we will ensure their days are filled with mitigating your mischief." Which is really just a pretty way of saying that Hotaru will gleefully assist in stirring up enough mischief to make them want to quit of their own accord.
Ru merely lifts a brow at the demanding tone, downright elegant in her silent tempering. Though moments later she laughs prettily and uses her arm to draw Flora close when the girl ragdolls to the side dramatically, all forgiven. "Perhaps I like them gross," she teases, pressing an idle kiss to Flora's crown. "But no. He does not exactly seem like the longterm type." Not that Ru won't shamelessly pursue him in short-term ways, but he doesn't strike her as the monogamous type. "I did, however, go on a date with George. We will see if it goes anywhere." Her hopes are accustomed to no longer getting themselves up; precisely why she doesn't mention her and Sunjata's renewed friendship either. Some things weren't meant for her daughter's gossipy little ears.
Oh, drunken gods of slaughter You know I've always been your favorite daughter
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.
Puckering her lower lip, Flora listens carefully, cementing every bit of maternal and valkyric-wisdom that her mother has for her. 'He's such a loser.' She huffs, childishly, knowing she was safe in this place to let her less-than-ideal emotions shine through. In seconds the pucker is gone from her lip as a laugh leaves Flora; the bright zing! of her mother's thumb across the bottom of her foot sending shivers racing up her spine.
Grumbling dramatically at her mother's predictably elegant reply, Flora still crinkles her nose while folding herself against the various nooks and crannies of Hotaru's curvaceous shape. "He's seen me naked, you know." She says of Danta, though her tone suggests that said encounter turned out far less interesting than Flora might have liked.
To hear that George was the one who had caught her mother's eye was surprising, and though she doesn't want to leave the comfort of Hotaru's side, Flora does twist slightly so that she might appropriately gape up at her. 'Shut up." And, had her hands not been covered in mud, she might have pressed them to her cheeks Home Alone style.
Regardless of what Hotaru thinks Flora's gossipy little ears should hear is entirely different than what her gossipy little eyes have seen. And so it's with a knowing smirk that she leans back against the stone wall and hmmms! in the back of her throat. "Byebye boring courier then, mmmmmm?" She sings. "Though...I did notice you and Sunjata looking cozy out by the bonfire." Because of course Flora had noticed, and not just because only moments before Sunjata had been talking to Ronin, and the Doubletake had almost been positive it was going to end in theatrics.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
Harper can be a loser all he likes, and Flora can rant all she likes, but Ru values the laugh on her daughter's face more. Enough to let the topic die and instead hold Flora close, snorting an inelegant laugh that is equally safe to let shine in the presence of family. "If I had to deem a man gross simply based on having seen you naked, I would have to blindfold myself while I walked through Torchline lest I lose my lunch." Though it's clear Hotaru merely finds that amusing, she wonders if the comment will entice Flora to expand on why she truly objects so much given her mother hasn't taken the bait.
Laughing fully at her dramatics now, Ru drags her back in with slick, muddy hands that leave prints and smears as she wrangles Flora back to her side. "You shut up!" she cries in turn, like a gossiping schoolgirl. "I had to balance out the indecency with something modest, it is simply the way of the world." Though she merely rolls her eyes at the mention of Talyson again, tittering and refusing to comment - mostly because what comes next is far more delicate. Tempered, she settles back against the wall alongside Flora and merely hums quietly in her throat. "He visited me the next morning too. It's all quite tangled, but it ended...very well." Not like that, which Flora will be able to tell from Hotaru's softened expression, but still a sensitive topic. "Though I don't know if that is something I should be pursuing, Frey above." Rolling her eyes exaggeratedly to hide the sincerity a smidge, she grins sideways at her daughter.
Oh, drunken gods of slaughter You know I've always been your favorite daughter
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.
"Mother!" Flora all but yelps, splashing at the mud with one hand as if to indicate just how insulted she was. Letting her eyes roll coyly up as her cheeks round, the Doubletake draws her shoulders up in a small shrug. "Some of the girls, too." She says, lips twisted and eyes shining. Reaching for her mother's hand to slide her muddy fingers between the Valkyrie's Flora half-swims and half-slides her way back to Hotaru wondering why in the hell she hadn't thought to rent out the spa sooner.
Though Flora quite likes to make Talyson the butt of nearly every joke, she too is much more interested in the next name she'd mentioned such that thoughts of the courier fall away in lieu of the Flood. "I mean, I like him the best, if that counts for anything." She says with a small shrug, knowing that while her approval would mean something to her mother, that ultimately Hotaru would do what best suited her.
"Okay, okay. So just to be clear," Holding up one hand out the mud, Flora begins to count off names against her fingers. "That's Tal, DAnTA, George, and Sunjata for you." Raising an eyebrow as if to encourage the Valkyrie to either add or take away from this list, Flora continues. "And that's Jack and Paige for me." This was the list of which there should be no overlap, as far as Flora was concerned.
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
Positively delighted by this coy little nugget of information, Ru ignores all protestations in favor of coquettish pride. "You are certainly my daughter." Oh if Flora only knew the women Hotaru had once wrapped around her fingers; even the once-Queen of Torchline. Maybe she would know these things if she came to visit more.
"Even over George? Your own guild member? Where is the loyalty?" Dramatics are easier than grappling with how she feels about that particular vote of confidence. She must remind herself that Flora was not privy to the details of her once-relationship with the Flood, and cannot truly understand the implications of any proposed renewal.
Four seems like quite a lot in comparison to Flora's two, and Hotaru decidedly preens shamelessly about it. Well realistically it's three because Tal is certainly not on the list, but Ru can tell a lost fight when she sees one. Though she could easily comment on Jack - "Paige? Maeve's niece? Joining the Quinn family even after all your protestations, hm?" Paige being the cousin to Harper's child is barely a connection at all, but if Ru can use it as ammunition to incense her daughter it's a thread worth pulling.
Oh, drunken gods of slaughter You know I've always been your favorite daughter
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.
"Mmhmmm." Flora agrees with equal pride. Unlike her father who, sans his memories of Isla was now staunchly more gay than ever he had been before, the Doubletake didn't feel the need to limit her partners by something so mundane as their bodies. Besides, there were all sorts of supplementary toys a pairing could use, and now with magical brothels popping up all over the place, Flora couldn't imagine why anyone would place barriers on their own pleasure or love.
"Oh mother." Flora chides playfully, rolling her eyes. "The guild is business. When it comes to who I want to have family dinners with or who can wrap their arms around you in public, that's a much higher bar." While it's true Flora knows only about a brief tryst thanks in part to a certain fire Hotaru had started in Torchline, the Doubletake is left with a rather lovely and passion-fueled montage of the relationship that she believes existed between the Flood and Valkyrie.
"Ewwwwww. Absolutely not." Flora squawks indignantly, both at the idea of joining someone's family as much as the association with Harper. "They never even got married I don't think. I mean, maybe now that she's back, but..." Wait, would that make her related to Harper? Gods. Gross. "Speaking of..." Turning, Flora faces Hotaru, regarding her mother with suddenly earnest aqua eyes. In many ways the girl was a perfect compliment of both her parents, only without Enzo the weight of her last time felt unbearable the longer she had to carry it. "I know you and my dad are never going to be together, and I think I understand what you wanted to do with giving Enzo and I our last name, but..." Quite unsure how to articulate the way she'd been feeling, Flora instead collapses forward so that she might wrap her arms around her mother's neck and snuggle herself against her chest. "I don't want to be a Kaliesin. I don't want to be the last of something that never even existed." She continues, not caring about the mud smearing into her hair.
"Kaito-Taliesin."
i scream for whatever it's worth "i love you" ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard?
The answer Flora gives admittedly only makes things worse because Hotaru would quite like to bring Sunjata around, show him the reasons she still tries to live her life and see if maybe it would bring a little light back into his own. "His life is far more dramatic than George's, don't you think your mother deserves a break?" She sighs theatrically; dramatics like Remi and Ronin and oopsie-twins and the like, stories Flora does know.
Ru has no input on where Maeve and Harper may end up, but she revels in the outcome of having stirred the pot all the same. The sudden intensity that follows is admittedly not what she expected from such a comment, but the Valkyrie refocuses immediately, listening attentively as she wraps her arms around the Doubletake and brings her close the moment she seeks physical comfort. It's something she hadn't foreseen Flora being burdened by which makes her chest ache at her oversight. "I would be proud to have you hyphenate your name instead. It feels like, that way, you are a piece of both of us in equal measure. The way you are." And to hear her own surname segmented and portioned away onto a pedestal of its own certainly does things to her heart. Equally uncaring of the mud, she runs a hand over Flora's hair down to her nape, where she presses her close into her chest and kisses right at the line of her baby hairs. "And you can be the start of something then. Something new." Squeezing her for good measure, Hotaru murmurs against her crown. "But you will always be my Flora." No last name required.
Oh, drunken gods of slaughter You know I've always been your favorite daughter
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.
