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!
After finding out almost nothing of substance from visiting the Greatwood, Caido's gayest demigod duo had nevertheless opted to continue trying to learn what they could about the everchanging world they found themselves in. Having seen little in the way of encroaching void flora or fauna on their flight over from the Greatwood, when they landed in the Brambles they opted instead to investigate the changes in themselves.
Both the ones they knew about as much as the ones they didn't.
Though neither wanted to admit it, it was entirely possible Safrin had neutered Ronin in some way since their last meeting, and given how little Remi knew about his new abilities, there seemed only one thing to do about it.
"You are going to actually have to hit me, you know." Grinning, the Bastion tilted his head imploring in his husband's direction as he rolled his shoulders in lazy circles. "I know you do not like to, but I won't have any way of knowing what I can stop if you don't."
Set before the KQ !
and I said "only ever other memory"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"You are very cruel to me," Ronin is saying through an exasperated sigh, busy stretching out his arms and then his hamstrings as he gazes across at his husband through the wild, long grass. It's difficult to admit it but the Outer Brambles are really quite beautiful at Leafchange, reminding Ronin of their early seasons of marriage in the Grounds with the explosion of colour and the crisp, sweet breeze.
"Alright. But you need to tell me if this goes too far," he warns, reminded of their previous hit-me escapades when Remi had been testing out the copycat abilities Ludo had given him. He wonders briefly whether they still exist, but he saves those questions for later.
For now, it's with a casual drop of his arms that's at odds with the strike he unleashes that the Nova summons his starbolts, directing them with pinpoint accuracy towards the man he loves.
"Yes, yes." Remi agrees with a roll of his eyes, not bothering to limber up quite to the extent that his husband was. No one had ever really taught him the benefits of it, and given the skill set he had acquired, and had recently re-acquired, it had never been necessary.
"I always do." Remi says, though whether or not he believes this is a lie or not is a mystery to both of them.
Forcing his shoulders to relax, the Bastion takes a deep breath before meeting his husband's gaze and smiling sweetly. It's then that he's forced to stagger back a few feet as the full power of the Nova's starbolts strike him squarely in the chest. Though Ronin is one of the few who could properly kill Remi and so his attacks seem to sting more than they should, this initial barrage is met with little more than a slight shake of Remi's head as he straightens and glances down at his shirt which is softly smouldering.
"Happy accident, I take it?" He wonders accusingly as he strips off the garment and tosses it aside.
REMI HP: 1323/1500
and I said "only ever other memory"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
No sooner has Ronin unleashed his assault of starbolts when he's already wincing, knowing how it will hit his husband if he just stands there and takes it. "I mean," he says, letting out an apologetic laugh and shrugging his shoulders, even as he begins to circle around the Bastion in an effort to make it seem like more of a training session and less of a BDSM exercise.
"Those seem to be working as intended, at least," he mutters. "What power were you using, exactly?" Extending his willpower to summon his nimbus, Ronin hops aboard and swiftly rises up into the air. This time he only flings a single bolt at his husband - he's mainly waiting to see if the nimbus suddenly vanishes and drops him.
Standing where he was and tracking his husband's movements with the tilt of his head over one shoulder and then the next, Remi couldn't help but chuckle under his breath. "Sorry, are you circling me?" Raising a brow—he was the predator, not Ronin, at least usually—the Bastion couldn't help but want to retaliate somewhat. Instead, he simply rolled his shoulders again.
"Er, that was...nothing. Just me." Remi admits a touch bashfully. "I...uhm." Pausing, he scrunched his nose, not really knowing quite how to say my hp far is fuckin' big now, innit. And so instead he merely maintains eye contact with his husband as another bolt hits him, doing little more than blowing back his curls for a moment.
"For this next one...you will have to trust me on this." He calls out, tracking Ronin's nimbus. "Shoot at yourself." So saying, Remi reached out with the same tether he'd used in the desert.
REMI HP: 1264/1500
and I said "only ever other memory"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I'm not not circling you," Ronin calls from his nimbus, though it might be more rightly said that the nimbus is lazily drifting in a circular motion about his husband at this point. And despite himself, the Nova is grinning now, though he absolutely isn't enjoying the beat Remi up part of this endeavour. Still, it's pleasant enough to know he can still use his nimbus in a pinch.
"You want me to...?" Ronin's reproachful look for Remi deciding just to be shot at for their first couple of rounds melts abruptly away. One might think Ronin would have more reservations about aiming falling stars directly at his own body, but call it self-hatred if you want; either way, he barely hesitates.
Three more starbolts materialise around him, soaring in an arc before turning back on themselves, aiming to hammer the Nova between the shoulderblades.
'Ah, well." Remi chuckles. "So long as we've got that cleared up." Rolling his eyes, the Bastion folds his arms comfortably over his bare chest as he squints up into the sky.
It hardly occurs to Remi that what he asks Ronin to do could be fatal, if only because he was so sure of the outcome, though gods help them both the day their flippant approach to self preservation actually caught up to them.
As the Nova's attack strikes him, he'll feel....well, almost nothing, actually, though on the ground he'll see Remi wince slightly in tandem where Ronin should have felt each strike. Shaking his head and exhaling, the Bastion grins up at the Nova. "Feel anything?"
He was pretty confident the answer would be no.
"Alright. Attack me again." He called as he felt the itch of another ability just waiting to be tested.
REMI HP: 1087/1500
and I said "only ever other memory"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Having been expecting (looking forward to? begging for?) the hits to strike, as Ronin only feels the smallest pressure against his back where there should have been searing pain, he straightens up in his surprise. "Nothing? Or almost nothing - it didn't hurt or do me any damage, put it that way. Did you..." Seeming a mix of thoroughly impressed and very worried for his husband, as Ronin tries to wrap his head around this new ability, he's being told to attack again.
"You are going to infuriate our enemies, you know," he says conversationally, rising to his feet on his nimbus. "Standing there and taking the hits and asking for more." But who is he to deny his husband?
Nevertheless, as three more bolts of celestial light descend down onto Remi, this time Ronin physically follows suit and leaps off his nimbus. If he can't get a reaction through demigodly means, maybe the Bastion will respond better to some good old fashions rasslin'.
Glancing up at the Nova, Remi waggles his fingers and bobs his eyebrows. "I did indeed. I think I could also give you some of my health if it ever came to that." He adds, rubbing one palm up the side of his arm.
"There is only one I hope to infuriate." He grumbles, thinking of Dahlia and immediately souring his expression. As Ronin stands, the Bastion grows instantly attentive. As the bolts fling his way, Remi just...vanishes.
Or well, he doesn't, but it'll probably seem like that.
What he does do is teleport, to Ronin specifically, and given that the Nova has stepped off his Nimbus, Remi finds himself all but falling through the air. "F—" Ronin will land first, followed by Remi who isn't nearly as quick to tuck and roll out of the leap as the Nova likely is.
'Ngg—' Rolling to his knees, Remi exhales loudly while he orients himself. "Right, well, I was not expecting that." He complains through a crooked smile.
and I said "only ever other memory"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"If you ever did that, I'd slap away even more of it from you," Ronin says in playful warning with a waggle of his eyebrows back at his husband; to say that he's reluctant for Remi to start giving away his lifeforce for the sake of other people is an understatement, even when it's to him. Especially when it's to him.
But anyway.
Dropping towards the other man in the hope of taking him down in the wake of his starbolts, Ronin is shooketh to find that Remi has promptly disappeared, only to reappear right the fuck behind him - in the air.
"Wh--" With both Taliesins refusing to finish their sentences, Ronin focuses instead on the tuck and roll aspect of his descent, and he springs into a crouch just as Remi gets himself upright. "You idiot." He grumbles affectionately, scrambling to try and get his husband into a playful headlock. "That's enough training for you for one day, I think."
"And just what good do you think slapping would do?" Remi wonders, grinning sweetly up at his husband. If Remi had been bordering on masochistic before, he was now firmly entrenched in more ways than one.
AlLowInG himself to be grappled, Remi reaches around for his husband's legs in an attempt to sweep the Nova quite literally off his feet as he moved to stand. "Why, you tired?" Chuckling, he has to admit that there's little more that either of them can really get out of sparring with one another, save for some sort of competition between strength and speed in which they were almost fairly matched. So, setting Ronin down (if indeed he'd ever picked him up), the Bastion holds out a hand for the Nova in order to sweep him in close.
"Now, you can either heal me or buy me dinner in the Grounds. Up to you."
and I said "only ever other memory"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I didn't tell you where I would be slapping," Ronin whispers darkly to the Bastion, grinning and releasing him just in time to be swept unceremoniously up into his husband's arms. More than content to be carted around in a bridal carry like this, it's almost a shame when Remi does opt to put him down, and he lets his arms slip around the other man so they might linger just as close as before. "Oh, exhausted," he assures him, a lie that becomes all the more apparent at the offer to buy Remi dinner.
"I will heal you later. In bed," he decides; whether bed happens to be an inn somewhere or out beneath the stars, it doesn't matter. Either way, feeling sort of as though he's had a workout, Ronin slips a hand into Remi's back pocket and leads them out through the trees and long grasses of the Outer Brambles, eyes peeled for an outpost or two.
