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!
Unsurprisingly, word about a giant, weird looking fyrhund in the Climb spreads quite quickly, and by the time the Taliesins make landfall in Torchline, it doesn't take much to get information about it and the heroes who defeated it. Rolling his shoulders as he heads to the Hanged Man - because even Ronin feels the exertion of flying non-stop down from the Cordillera - the Nova doesn't even check to see whether the bar is open before shouldering his way through the door.
(And unfortunately, if it isn't open, he might owe Flora a new lock and hinges for it with the way they'll crunch and break under the force of his entry).
"Flora?" he calls out, ruffing a hand through windswept hair and furrowing his brow as he glances around. "Sorry it took a while to get down here..."
Having bathed in the healing fountain, (yes, bathed, what of it), Flora was feeling...you know, fine. It hadn't healed her arm entirely which was weird, but as the man she'd met there had pointed out, maybe that had something to do with Safrin's disappearance, given she was the one who'd made the fountain in the first place. So, with her arm bandaged and only bleeding a little, Flora was in long sleeves to keep herself from picking at the wrapping and more or less succeeding at leaving it alone.
"Last call was like 10 minutes ago, so hurry up if—oh hi." Looking up from the bar where she's just washing down the countertop, Flora smiles warmly in Ronin's direction. "Uh...did we...have something planned, or...?" Confusion has lines stretching across her forehead, which the Doubletake is quick to clear away if only so that she'd not develop early wrinkles.
Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness 'Cause it's all over now, all out to sea
"Hi," Ronin says, unreasonably pleased to see Flora in one piece, the Nova feeling some of the tension melting out of his neck and shoulders as he approaches the counter. "I... no, sorry. I mean, if you wanted to--" Holding up a hand to stop himself from running away with his own words, Ronin takes a deep breath and tries again.
"Your dad and I flew down after you channelled him. We wanted to make sure you were alright - there's been some weird purple bullshit happening up in the Cordillera too, so..." So yeah. They'd flown until their muscles had cramped to get here quickly, and now Flora seems perfectly fine, and Ronin feels a bit silly.
It's a rare thing to see the Nova so flustered, so Flora takes full advantage of soaking the moment in and smirking at Ronin while he tries to get his tongue in order. "Weird purple bullshit, huh." The Doubletake echoes, setting down her cloth in order to prop her chin up with one hand. "You don't say." Her words are laced with feigned surprise before she chuckles and turns to grab some whiskey and two glasses.
"There is weird purple bullshit literally everywhere right now, in case you hadn't noticed." She mumbles over one shoulder before turning around to pour them each a glass. "And it isn't like this is the first time I've channeled Dad before." Pushing the glass across to Ronin, Flora narrows her eyes slightly as she regards him skeptically. "Are you being weird? Or are you just jealous that I never channel you?" She widens her eyes theatrically at that, before (poorly) hiding her smirk behind the rim of her glass.
Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness 'Cause it's all over now, all out to sea
"Listen, as a matter of fact, we haven't noticed anything up in the mountains until very recently." Ronin huffs and moves to take a seat at the bar, hoping the whiskey Flora is pouring for them will do something to connect the dots between his brain and his mouth. "And no, you're right. This was the first time he'd seen you hurt when you channelled him, though," he points out.
Accepting the glass and taking a grateful sip of liquor, he scrunches his nose in response to her smirk and clears his throat, setting the whiskey back down. "Of course I'm not jealous," he lies says haughtily, though he can't hide his smile at this point either. "If you did ever channel me though, I can heal as well as beat things up."
"Well, maybe you should get out more." Flora points out, eyebrows raised. "Didn't Safrin like, specifically tell you to do just that?" She adds innocently, before rolling her eyes and looking all the more like the child she kept trying to convince everyone she wasn't. "Just a little bite, it's nothing." Pulling up one of her sleeves, Flora holds out her arm and frowns. The dressing had been nearly clean just a few hours ago, but already blood had begun to bloom against the white cloth.
Still, she was fine.
"I washed it in the healing fountain and everything." Flora adds, before snickering. "I know, it's just that dad is more of the shoot first and ask questions later type, and you...aren't." It was probably one of Ronin's best qualities and one of Remi's worst, but when you wanted something killed no questions asked, rarely did you call for the hero when the villain was available.
Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness 'Cause it's all over now, all out to sea
"She did, in fact. And here I am." Ronin raises his eyebrows at Flora and grins, though he knows damn well that she has a very good point. Making a mental note to check in with Stormbreak - and with Torchline in much more detail, too - he takes another healthy sip of his drink before Flora mentions the bite she'd sustained at the hands of the weird purple bullshit fyrhund. "Oh?"
His brow furrowing, he tilts his head at the bloody dressing - especially when she mentions that she's already bathed it in the healing fountain. "Do you mind if I take a look?" he asks, sitting up in his seat. As for Remi shooting first and asking questions later, he really can't argue with that, but at the same time, he's absolutely available should Flora need him. (And he hopes she knows it, too).
"Ah, and here I thought it was just to visit little old me." Rolling her eyes affectionately and using her other hand to raise her glass to her lips, she mhmmm'd into her glass as she let the Nova inspect her wound. "It's probably because Safrin is away that the fountain isn't healing as well. You know, since it's her magic that made it and everything." It had sounded very convincing when Luka had said it, though repeating it now to Ronin, Flora had her doubts.
Whatever though, she was fine.
"We killed it though. Melita and Tal took some bits of it with them." Flora adds conversationally, wincing a little despite Ronin's attempts to be gentle.
Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness 'Cause it's all over now, all out to sea
"Little old you was the primary reason for the visit," he murmurs to Flora with a smirk as if that might help. Carefully unwrapping the dressing and furrowing his brow at the sight of the wound, it isn't so much that he's worried that it's infected - it looks clean enough, especially after being in the healing waters - but more that it's still open.
And while he's not one to put down Flora's opinions without good reason, he does seem puzzled - worried, even - at the explanation. "You'd think that my own power wouldn't be so effective if that was the case, right...?" Raising an eyebrow, it's with a sigh that he bandages her arm back up and shakes his head.
"Will you let me know if it's still causing you problems in a couple of days?" he asks. "I'll see if anyone else has been nipped by anything like this, and how they dealt with it."
"And when did you last use your powers at full blast, mmm?" Flora counters, if only because if she was wrong about the waters, then that meant her arm really might be fucked, so it was better all in all for Ronin just to be wrong.
"Yes dad of course I will." She huffs, emphasizing his paternal worry both as a dig at him as well as a compliment. "Well, I think fyrhunds are only in the Climb, right? And we killed that one, so...." So, you know, maybe it was just a one-off.
"Oh, also...uh, Harper abdicated and I asked to co-lead with Hadama and he said he wanted to think about it, but that was like, a week ago. So I'm going to go and chat with him about it. Any tips?" It all comes out in a rush, and without any political polish, but then this was Ronin who already knew all the relevant backstory.
Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness 'Cause it's all over now, all out to sea
"Well if you had channelled me then maybe I could have used them and let you know," Ronin fires back playfully, finishing his whiskey and setting the glass back down. One might have pointed out that, if Remi had been using his starbolts, by default he should also be feeling any negative effects caused by Safrin's disappearance. Ronin doesn't, though, and he's suitably silenced by Flora calling him dad.
Smiling a touch smugly, the expression melts into something much more akin to pride as the conversation rolls on, and he positively beams at Flora to hear her intentions to co-lead. "What on earth does he need to think about?" he wonders, before actually taking a second to give it some thought.
"I suppose if I were you, I'd go already equipped with ideas to make Torchline better," he murmurs. "Act like you've already been given the role and you're ready to put your ideas into action."
"Oh, so I get to be your test? What if it was life or death?" Flora shoots right back before mirroring Ronin and finishing her drink as well. She really should channel Ronin more she silently decides, if only because he's absolutely right that he can harm and heal all in one go, unlike Remi. It was just so ingrained that when she thought of murder, she thought of the Lullaby.
"Honestly, I have no idea. He acted like it was just some whim and that I'd give it up if I got bored? And then he said I always fight with him and swam off." That was the version she remembered, anyway.
Sighing, Flora nods, having expected precisely this sort of advice from the (cassa)Nova. "Okay but, is there a version a way I could also sort of imply that if he turns me down I'm strong enough just to full on usurp him on my own? Not to mention that like, a good portion of Torchline is already over his shit, so it isn't like it would be a coup of one, either." There probably wasn't a way to be politely threatening, but Flora supposed that if there was, Ronin was absolutely the one to know how to say it.
Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness 'Cause it's all over now, all out to sea
"If it was life or death then I wouldn't need powers to get the job done," Ronin says with precisely the easy sort of certainty that one might expect from one of Caido's heroes (or anti-heroes, as the case may be when the situation called for it). Still, as Flora continues to speak about the Hadama of it all, the Nova finds himself simultaneously concerned and impressed by Flora's plans.
Remaining quiet for a moment - specifically because he doesn't want to give kneejerk advice - Ronin carefully organises his loyalties before responding. "I wouldn't open with the word coup," he says with a soft laugh. "If you were going to imply something like that, you'd want to make sure it was all about Torchline. It's not about what you want, or what Hadama doesn't want, it's about what Torchline needs."
He spreads his hands across the bar. "Does Torchline need the status quo? Or does it need the addition of some fresh perspective? And if the current leadership seems... closed off to that sort of change, well, someone will have to keep the islands' best interests in mind."
Biting at the inside of her lip, Flora tucks away each and every bit of advice Ronin has to offer. "Right." She agrees, letting the words sink in and then some, if only to make sure she was understanding him properly. "Because it isn't personal, that's what you're saying, right? That it's all about what is best for Torchline and whoever is best for Torchline."
Leaning forward, Flora glances around despite knowing that the bar was empty. "Honestly, I think what it is, is that no one actually cares about the Mer. We did the canals and the stupid bubble stream and whatever, but no one uses them." Frowning softly, Flora shrugs. "I know everything should be fair and equal, but Torchline has never really been like that, and all of this hand-holding equality stuff is really getting to people." Straightening, Flora glances down at their empty cups before deciding that anything more would just make her sleepy.
"Well, I'm going to go see him in the morning, so I guess I'll let you know how it goes? And thanks for coming to check up on me I guess." This latter sentiment is said with a good deal of eye-rolling, but with no shortage of affection, either. "Want to walk me home? I can point out all the weird glowy purple shit you've been missing."
And of course, Ronin did.
~FIN
Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness 'Cause it's all over now, all out to sea
