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!
While Noah kept Maeve’s secret quiet, Cordelia did know. And she understood . The war was a difficult trauma to walk through, and Noah had helped the Nightshade in the ways that he could.
Throughout his time in the Grounds, he had not visited her nearly enough, however. But now he wanted to tell her of what he had done. ”Shade,” Noah said softly after he knocked the pattern the woman would recognize as him. When she answered, Noah would offer her his invisibility cloak in case she wanted to keep her identity concealed. ”I have something to show you.”
When she accepted, he would lead her all the way to the temple. Pushing open the doors, Noah found the place to be in a time of quiet, with it being such an early hour. The Forsaken led Maeve towards the altar Sah and he had made for Vi.
Then let the f o o l i s h tak? the l e a d
infinite inspiration and endless thanks to odd and sky
It was early and very few people made trips out to Maeve. Even fewer this early in the morning. The pattern was easily recognizable and she doesn’t hesitate to open the door to Noah. Her expression was soft, a gentle smile curling on wine stained lips, the color standing out naturally against her pale skin. ”Noah..” She murmured in a gentle greeting, refusing the invisibility cloak for the time being. It was still too early for anyone to be on the streets.
Allowing him to lead her through the lanes of the Grounds, Maeve stepped into the temple, relaxing to find it empty. Her eyes scanned over the interior, taking a small step away from him to run her fingers along the stone, eyes closing for a moment. ”It feels warm in here… an energy in the air.” Similar and familiar, wrapping around her like a blanket, warming her to the very marrow of her bones. It was almost like being in front of Safrin. It was the closest she had felt to the herald in some time.
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Sah and I built this as a part of my quest for Vi." He said, touching her elbow gently to lead her closer to the statue that Sah created. "This looks nearly identical to him. Sah was able to make it with just how I described him. Isn't that amazing?" The abandoned had never seen the god of life before, yet with Noah's mind-painting, was able to create him as if he had been visiting him at shrines his entire life. "It amazing what creation magic can do. Deimos and Sah can just do incredible things." Noah said, eyes lighting up as he talked about how wondrous his friends abilities were.
"With Safrin gone, I thought you might like to see this. It's not a true shrine, but you could still come here to pray if you wanted." Noah smiled, looking down at the once-queen with a softness in his eyes that he reserved only for those close to him.
Then let the f o o l i s h take the l e a d
infinite inspiration and endless thanks to odd and sky
She didn't flinch at Noah's touch. An accomplishment for the Nightshade who flinched away from nearly everything and everyone these days. Instead Maeve let him guide her towards the statue, head tilting thoughtfully as she examined the statue, taking in the features with quiet contemplation. "It is... I imagine Safrin would be a bit jealous not to have one herself." Her lips twitch at the thought, knowing just how much her goddess loved that kind of devotion. "If she wasn't busy, of course." Protecting Caido from whatever it was. The Nightshade wasn't too sure at this point.
The mention of Sah has her blinking, suddenly drawn from her reverie of her goddess, lips parting slightly. "I knew Deimos held such gifts, but I wasn't aware that Sah had grown so talented in that area." An image of him appears in her mind, hazy, but real. Amber eyes and a strong jaw. It's gone as quickly as it comes, her attention pulled once more by Noah's voice.
"I do like it. Thank you." Her smile is genuine, reaching her eyes in a quiet sort of way as she gives his arm a squeeze, meeting his glacial gaze. "You did a good job, Noah. I'm sure Vi will be happy with all the work you've done here."
”I hope so. I’m going to call to him as soon as my threads are done before the end of the season.” Noah let his hands fall into his pockets. ”I am hoping I will have the freedom to travel again after I turn this quest in.” Noah said, shifting his weight slightly, but keeping his eyes on Vi’s statue.
”Have you been to Torchline at all?” He asked, wondering if there had been any new developments since they had seen each other last. Admittedly, it had been quite a while. With Noah so focused on trying to work on what Vi had given him (and on top of that going through the emotional and spiritual upheaval he had to make) he had not visited much. ”I want to go back to Halo to visit. I missed Evie and Deimos’ wedding, because I am here.” Another punishment, another pang in his heart.
Nodding about Sah, Noah’s face softened with a fond smile. ”He has. I think it’s recent, but he is excited about it.”
Then let the f o o l i s h take the l e a d
infinite inspiration and endless thanks to odd and sky
Ah yes. The Nightshade had nearly forgotten about that part of Noah's punishment. Having spent most of her time shut away in the home he set up for her, the former queen wasn't current on the comings and goings of those residing in the Grounds. "I hope so as well. I know you miss Halo." She said quietly, voice nearly a whisper as she studied the statue before his next question caused her expression to shutter.
Swallowing thickly, Maeve stepped forward, giving him her back as she reached for one of the candles to light her own with. "No... I haven't been back since I came here. Edmund still goes there. Jude, too." But not her. Never her. The Nightshade wasn't sure when she'd return to the Court of Stars or her brothel to pack up the rest of her life. At this point she wasn't sure she wanted to. The memories almost too much to bear. "Deimos got married? How wonderful... I'm sorry you were unable to attend. Did Cordelia get to go on your behalf, at least?" Surely that would have been better than neither of them going, right?
The conversation shifted again and she let out a breath, shoulders easing slightly, "He should be. It isn't an easy feat to accomplish."
“She may go to the reception. She traveled back to Halo. The twins had a visit with her parents.” He said. “They are keeping jt a very small ceremony, from my understanding.” Noah said. “I’m not sure if you know him, but another Halovian by the name of Talyson opened a courier station here in the Grounds if you want to send them something.” He said. He himself had already made use of the courier station to send them a gift.
At mention of Edmund, Noah’s eyes darkened slightly, but he tried to remain neutral. ”How is he doing?” the demigod asked, without trying to imply that the words beneath what he said were has he tried to kill anyone else lately? ”I am glad you stay in contact with him. It’s good for them, even as they age.” OF course, Noah’s only context for that was the yearning he had in his own heart for his parents. His children were still far too young for him to have parental experience with such a saying, only the child’s perspective.
Then let the f o o l i s h take the l e a d
infinite inspiration and endless thanks to odd and sky
She nodded her understanding, "I'm sure she will give them your love." The Nightshade murmured, eyes still fixed on the candles, watching the flames dance lazily. "The twins are doing well, yes? They seem to be growing like weeds." Not that she saw much of them, of course. She just remembered how it was to have a child at that age. How they seemed to change over night. The thought of both Jude and Edmund made her heart squeeze.
They were and always would be, the best parts of her.
Not missing the question, Maeve rolled her shoulders, turning back to look at him squarely in the eye. "He's doing well. Finally adjusted to all of the changes." With her help. He'd been terrified of the new bloodlust, unsure of how to handle it, fearing what it could mean for him. Maeve, as always, was there to guide him. "Comes to see me once a week, too." She felt herself nodding again, eyes looking somewhere over his shoulder now, almost glazed as her thoughts seemed caught elsewhere. "I wouldn't dream of ever stopping."
”They are. Gonna be walking any minute. Then we’re in trouble.” He mused, chuckling some. Margot was already a terror in her own way — crawling everywhere and getting into everything and taking and hiding things in her little places all over the house. Marcus was much more quiet, but that was equally as dangerous — he was there one second and then gone the next without a sound. Cordelia was a saint for having the patience with them she did.
When Maeve’s sharp, motherly gaze caught Noah squarely, he nodded. His glacier eyes softened some, as if they could any more without simply melting, and he sucked his teeth. ”I am glad you are there for him. I imagine it has been a tough transition.” But, having lived in the Grounds for the time he had, he hadn’t seen the ancients act out in any way that would lead Noah to believe they were all uncontrollable murderers.
Then let the f o o l i s h take the l e a d
infinite inspiration and endless thanks to odd and sky
Remembering fondly when both of her boys started walking, the Nightshade can't help smiling gently an image of Edmund toddling along in the garden behind her flaring to life in her mind's eye followed shortly after with one of Jude. He used to trail after her in the Court of Stars, clinging to her skirts as they went room to room doing her various duties. If only they could stay that little; spared from the cruelties of the world that awaited them. "That's how it goes. Once they start walking it seems impossible to keep them close."
As soon as Noah backs down, so does she, returning to that quiet wraith of a woman who seemed to haunt each place she entered. "It has been. He... He did it partially because of me. For fear of not being able to protect me. For fear that Safrin wouldn't be able to protect me." A sensitive topic these days, the starry herald was still who Maeve devoted herself to despite the fact that she was gone. Oh how she longed to call on her now. To simply be reassured and to find a new path by her goddess. "I couldn't leave him to face it alone."
The corner of Noah’s mouth twitch slightly, the only indication of his inwards thoughts. In this moment, he was thankful that Maeve did not share the bond with him. He wanted to laugh at the audacity within Edmund to believe he could protect better than a god’s herald—but, he was a child. When Noah was his age, he believed he could single-handedly feed the whole of Halo, and relentlessly worked in an attempt to do so.
”I hope he can find what he is looking for, in her.” Dygra, he meant. Because if one god had failed the boy in such a way, what was another to do? Dygra herself had been stagnant and dormant for hundreds of years, along with a population of her race. How was that better protection that the activity Safrin had been doing, even trapped within the barrier?
Noah’s mind whirled with all of the thoughts, but he pushed them back down in favor of not riling himself up.
”Sah is worried.” Noah said, shifting the subject. While Maeve had hidden herself away from the world, Noah wasn’t sure what all she knew, but he wasn’t going to let her sit idly by and not be informed. Whatever she wanted to do with the information was between her and Safrin. ”Do you remember over Longnight when there were those two falling stars? Apparently they crashed in King’s End, but they only left craters. Ever since then, there has been an influx of weird flora and fauna. The weather, too.” He gestured with a shoulder to the window, the sound of rain steady. ”When I call on Vi as soon as my PQ is finished in the next day or so, I plan not only to repent for what I haven’t done, but to ask him about all of this.”
Then let the f o o l i s h take the l e a d
infinite inspiration and endless thanks to odd and sky
Had they shared the bond, Maeve likely would have echoed his thoughts to an extent. After all, she still followed Safrin closely, unwavering despite the fact that she had disappeared recently. The Nightshade had hoped her son would come back to Safrin's light, but she couldn't change the choice that he made. Nor would she disown him for it. No, he was still her flesh and blood. She loved him with her whole being. Nothing would change that.
The Nightshade didn't say anything in response. Instead she let her eyes rove back over the statue, jade eyes studying the regal face of Vi, rendered painstakingly in stone. Maeve licks her dry lips, listening as he continues, subject turning from her son to other matters.
Sah's name had her turning, meeting his gaze as he continues to speak, "Oh... Yes, I heard of the craters. That they were being explored." She murmured softly, arms wrapping around her middle once more as if she was keeping a chill from her bones, a crash of thunder making her flinch. "It's been hard to miss the strange weather." The never ending storm did nothing to help ease her nerves these days, but she hadn't considered that this was being caused by the falling stars and Safrin's disappearance. "I find it odd that Vi would let things fall out of order... Safrin, too."
Not that she doubted the gods. Their abilities. It was nothing like that, but Maeve was lost as to why it was happening to being with.
Noah found it odd, too, that in Safrin's absence he had chained him here of all places. Not allowed him to be free and help with whatever was happening, but instead work to right what he had wronged. Noah had worked through the anger and deep rage it had caused him originally, as well as the sorrow and grief and existential crisis it caused afterwards. He had spent the last seasons not only working tooth and nail to get back on good standing with the deity, but also digging deep within himself to find the right within him again.
The only indication that Noah gave in agreement, however, was a low mumbled rumble from this chest.
"As we get further from the war, what are your plans looking forward?" He looked to the statue of Vi, his kept his ears tuned right in on the Nightshade.
Then let the f o o l i s h take the l e a d
infinite inspiration and endless thanks to odd and sky
What were her plans? Maeve almost snorted. She didn't have plans. No goals. No deadlines. No pressing need to be. No, she had no plans at all.
Her shoulders lifted in a delicate shrug, lips parting momentarily as she wet them with her tongue, preparing to speak. "I don't know. Start over, I suppose." A new home. A new life. Maybe new friends. The Nightshade didn't know what the future held for her. If it held anything. Her children were in different regions, both too grown to really need her anymore, having struck out on their own.
Ruling didn't appeal to her as it did once before. It was better left to those who could handle the strain. Perhaps once she could have, but no longer did she have the steel in her spine to support such burdens. She was tired. Maeve didn't need to solve the problems of thousands. Didn't want to.
But that left a question of what she did want. Before all she had wanted was love. A family. She had that now with her two sons. Yet there was still an emptiness inside her. One that Harper used to fill until she let that slip away, too. This time she does huff a laugh, the sound unamused, her head dipping slightly. Funny how it always came back to that. A partner that could never stay. Either because of their own reasons or because of her. "I won't be returning to Torchline, though. I don't think at least."
