lostcarnival | ⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: October 22nd - 31st, 2017
Where: In Portland, for the last time.
What: The seasons change as the Winter Court seizes a surprise victory, claiming both the Tree of Life's pendant and the blood catalyst needed to take control of the Severing Ritual. Meanwhile, interdimensional problems are about to get more weird. Check out the conflict results for the attack on the Circle as well as the Beast's attack on the Summer Court here.
Warnings: Individually marked!

DAYS OF WINTER↴

As the end of October nears, so does the grasp of winter. On the night of the 22nd, it will freeze overnight, and the temperature will drop for the following days. As the night grow long, world-wide magic slowly reaches it apex, set to reach it on the night of Halloween. With so many factors at play, knowing what to do with that moment of power may be a challenge.

► FULL CIRCLE: The Angels succeed in their planned attack on the Circle, managing to get to the living quarters of the Council members with the help of Ashleigh Mischief. The plan goes without much resistance from the mages or from the demons attempting to claim the ritual object for their own. Of course, when the fae make a surprise attack on the Angels after they flee the scene, it has the surprise result of the Winter Court ended up with the pendant in their talons. Threads for this attack can be done in this log. If you need mod direction at all, let us know, but otherwise feel free to NPC demons, angels, or random Circle members as you require.

► THE QUEEN'S GARDEN: Realizing that the Rose Queen is distracted with attempting to claim the pendant, the Beast will summon her co-conspirators to raid the Queen's gardens. The ultimate plan seems to be to get the Beast far enough into the gardens to kill the Queen, while also rescuing as many changelings as possible along the way. As it turns out, this doesn't go well. While they do manage to penetrate the gardens with Childermass's help, the Rose Queen, Ignatius, and Nightshade happen to all be there. Seriously outnumbered, even by the Beast's terms, it will take everything the group has to just make it out alive, sustaining heavy injuries as they go. In the end they will manage to rescue Greg universe and four additional changelings that were imprisoned there, but any damage done to the Summer Court itself will be negligible. Threads for this can also be played out here!

► REFLECTIONS: As the ritual draws closer, the line between this reality and the one you came from will also be becoming less clear. Regaining memories is not required, but it will naturally become easier to occur, especially if you're already started receiving them. It's a good time to start making connections, while you still have the chance.

► THE SEVERING: One way or another, the Severing is going to make an impact on both this world and the lives of those trapped inside of it. The Angels are going to be making an attempt to interrupt the Winter Court's ritual, as will the Summer Court and Anath's forces. Whoever comes up on top will be the ones to decide what to be done with it. Yet, with news that the Severing continuing could cause irreversible damage to the planet's spirit, it could feel like there are no perfect options. There will be an event header put up for this by the mods closer to the end of July.

(NOTE: canon powers will returning while the ritual is in progress, so keep that in mind for planning - both sets of powers will be active.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was hard to get around after the raid--not just because of his injuries, but because neither Mary or Bob wanted him waltzing about freely after coming home like that. Skipping school is a short term solution, but short time is all they have anymore. If the angels could pull this up... well, was school here going to matter?

He's glad he's right to find Rita at the Sanctuary. When he spots the room she's in he slowly leans against the doorway, silent for a moment as he tries to figure out what to say.

"Hey." So much for finding his words.

Rita's sitting on a couch in the lounge, an open book on her lap, though her focus keeps wandering away from it. Yuya's greeting catches her while she's staring at the window, and she gives a slight jolt of surprise, then turns her head to look at him.

It looks like he's hesitating to speak, but Rita breaks the silence with a bit of her usual attitude. "...Don't just stand there like an idiot." She nods to the space next to her on the couch. That's an invitation, Yuya.

"Hey!" He pouts at the jab, but does make his way inside of the room. He plops down on the couch--with a quick, regretful grunt of pain as he lands on a bruise wrong.

"You're doing okay?" As okay as they can be, all things considered. "Has anyone hard from John since we attacked the Summer Court?"

He can always hope the guy magically escaped, right?

Rita nods. "I'm fine." Fine isn't really the word for it, but the pain medicine's working, and she knows she'll recover... even if it'll leave some ugly scars. Still, she can't bring herself to complain about her injuries. Rita knew the risks when she attacked the Summer Court, and she's lucky to be alive and free right now.

His second question, however, is answered with a shake of her head. Her gaze turns downward, to the book in her lap. "The Winter Court took him. They won't let him go easily." It bothers Rita... Childermass knew her real name, before she even realized she had another name. If there's a connection between the two of them, Rita needs to find that out... but the Winter Court's interference is making that impossible right now.

After a pause, she turns to Yuya and glances over him with an appraising look. "What about your injuries?"

"I'm fine!" He waves his hands quickly, brushing it off. He's still covered in bandages, and it still hurts... but it isn't enough to keep him in bed. "I'm more worried about everyone else. Everything is getting more violent." And they have to stop the Winter Court on top of everything else. He bites his lip a moment, sinking back into the couch.

"They have the pendant too, but the angels aren't going to give up. We still have a chance to stop this and save him." He glances over to Rita. "Did you ever... I mean, was Axel...?"

As Yuya speaks, Rita watches him with a look of growing confusion. Apparently, she's been out of loop in some areas.

But as soon as he mentions Axel, her expression changes to something not quite happy, and not quite sad. "Yeah... I found him." Absently, she folds her arms and presses them over her ribs, where a constant pain continues to nag at her. She hates what they did to him... and what happened as a result.

She considers saying more, but the words don't come to her right away, so she shakes her head to dismiss the topic. Besides, she has questions. "What was that about a pendant? And... the angels? I think I'm missing something."

He's about to ask, because she doesn't seem relieved to have found him... but she changes the topic quickly. She must not be ready to talk about it.

So he just nods. "Yeah. You know the severing, right? And that everyone's trying to break it. The fae, the angels... everyone except the circle is trying to get rid of it and apparently there's a special pendant needed for it. I trust the angels to break it more than anyone else, so I'm helping them."

He sinks back in the couch a bit. "I think if they took John after they took the pendant, maybe he's who they need to break the severing. So we have to stop them."

It's actually news to Rita that the angels are trying to break the Severing... and that Yuya intends to help them.

"...He is," she confirms, as that's at least one part of this story that Rita's already informed about. "I don't know what they'll do with him, exactly, to make it happen, but I don't plan on letting them get that far." Rita talks a big game, considering the state she's in, and how her last plan to antagonize the fae didn't exactly pan out.

Still, it looks like they both agree on wanting the Winter Court stopped. That's good... but there's one part that Rita's not so quick to agree with. "Why trust the angels to do it? If the Severing's undone, won't the result be the same no matter who does it?"

"I don't think so. Apparently it's possible to break only part of the severing and leave everyone else stuck. The Summer Court wants to break it so they can invade, and if they're kidnapping people then I don't trust the Winter Court either."

He frowns. He has a very, very low opinion of kidnapping. "The angels are going to break the whole spell and keep defending this place against the fae. And anyway, John shouldn't be forced to do it if he doesn't want!"

So that's it. It makes sense, then, that the factions are all warring with each other now, rather than allowing one to break the Severing so they can all fight with full force after the fact. But...

"Break the whole spell... but that's insane!" Rita cries, but the outburst agitates her wound, and she stifles a gasp, pressing a hand over her ribs. As hard as it is, she has to stay calm. A few steady breaths, and she's ready to continue. "If they really want to protect this world, then letting more fae in is the one thing they shouldn't do. Are they stupid?"

"Rita!" Yuya shifts up with as grunt, holding his hands out to try and grab her shoulders and keep her still before she hurts herself further.

"I'm not finished. Lambert told me that the Severing spell is hurting the world anyway, or at least it's spirit. So even if it stops the Fae, it isn't safe."

It really is a rock and a hard place. Yuya slowly lowers his hands. "I don't like it either, but everyone's trying to break it anyway. We don't have time to find a better spell. So if they say they're gonna protect everyone from the Fae when the Severing breaks, I trust them."

Rita glowers a bit when he tries to steady her, every bit as frustrated with her own weakness as she is bothered by what he's telling her.

The spirit of the world? In other words... the Earth Spirit? Rita feels like she's heard something about it recently...

Then... what? The only way to save the planet is to invite a fae attack that could just as easily ruin the world!? Rita shakes her head, not wanting to believe it. "This can't... there has to be another way."

"If you have one, I'm all ears." But he has a feeling Rita is just as clueless as the rest of them. "Maybe we--they can find another way, but we still have to stop the Winter Court and save the Earth Spirit. And we don't have a lot of time."

"And besides," He shrugs. "If I didn't believe in them to protect everyone else, I wouldn't help them."

"I know," Rita hisses through gritted teeth. "I won't let the Winter Court succeed. Or the Summer Court." She doubts they've given up yet. If either of them perform the ritual, it'll lead to the worst outcome imaginable.

"But I can't just believe in the angels, like you do." Sure, Rita's been helped out by angels before, and she doesn't really have a bad opinion of them. She's just not convinced they have the power to protect the world, or that they won't go running back to Heaven or wherever as soon as things get hairy. "Besides... they'll need a catalyst too, won't they? So some poor idiot's gonna get hurt no matter who does it." If Yuya's so worried about Childermass, wouldn't he extend that concern to whoever's supposed to take his place?

About that...

"I'm the catalyst," he raises his hands at he says it, trying to stop Rita from getting too excited again. "I'm doing it willingly! I offered, so it's okay. John is being forced into it, right? So we have to save him."

"What...!?" Yuya tries to calm her, but his explanation doesn't quite reassure Rita.

"That's not the only problem here! How can you just volunteer for something like that? Do you even know what happens to the catalyst!?" Rita... doesn't, really, but she assumes it won't be good.

"Yes? Miss Pru explained it to me, I know what I have to do," Yuya raises a brow, a little put off. Give him some credit, he's not completely careless. "That's why I don't want John or anyone else to be forced to do it." He frowns.

"And not everyone can be the catalyst, because you have to be related to the caster. I want to help. I don't want anything to happen to this place, but... I also want to go home. I have to go home."

To his family, his friends, to Yuzu... he made a promise they'd return together, and how could he break that just because he was too scared of doing something dangerous to go home? His memories were still spotty, but somehow... this doesn't even feel like the worst he could go through just to get back to them.

Who the hell is Miss Pru? Rita's tempted to ask, but that's not the most important detail right now.

"So you've decided that the other world's your home now?" she asks in an accusatory tone.

As harsh as she sounds, though... Rita has been discovering more and more memories of her own, especially in those two days she spent bedridden, drifting in and out of dreams. She remembered someone... a person she should never have forgotten. Is that person still out there, waiting for her somewhere? If she is... would that mean that place is Rita's real home?

But every fiber of her being is resistant to the idea of having a real home at all. Rita struggled so hard to find a place in this world... How could that be fake? How could it be for nothing?

"Of course it's my home!" Yuya snaps back defensively. "I know my memories are real. My family and my friends are there, so I'm going back to them!"

It wasn't even just a want anymore. He made a promise, he had to go back. To Yuzu, and mom, dad, everyone else... He's collected so many memories of people he loves now, how could he not want them back?

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

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