lostcarnival | ⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4 PT2

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4 PT2

Who: Anyone and everyone!
When: October 31st, 2017 HALLOWEEN!
Where: The Count of Crow's Underground Realm
What: The displaced carnival members break into the Count of Crow's underground fortress, in the hope of taking control of the ritual and maybe saving Childermass's life.
Warnings: Violence, ritual blood letting, other stuff.

DAYS OF WINTER PT2↴

The night of hallow's eve has come, and there's no more time for waiting. As Portland begins enjoying the festivities of the night, you are tasked with something darker - you must find the Count's realm within Portland's underground tunnels, and fight off those that would stop you. The ritual will be starting soon, and once it's finished the very nature of this reality will be in the Winter Court's hands... the only choice is to intervene.

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By all the Diamonds--

She was ready. She was so ready to jump on Nightshade and give her the beating of SEVERAL lifetimes, but then Gon calls her name and she whirls to face him, and then when she looks back! The fae is already gone!! She hisses in confusion, now sitting on all this souped up power with nowhere to direct it--

Okay wait a sec why does it seem like everyone is suddenly staring at her all of a sudden!? Rewind a sec! Despite those huge bat ears, she seriously wasn't listening!!

She crouches down next to Steven and eyeballs the room at large with an apprehensive "nyeh?"

Even while possessed by the Earth Spirit. Peridot's gonna Peridot.

NOT GOOD. The minute both fae are on the field, Carly's pouring as much as she has into the violet flames, the shadow practically overtaking their light. These are not true 'fires' that she has spent more than a year practicing with; they look like it, and act like it, but they are not 'it'. Demon fire, a light-bearing haze that is cold to the touch, and eats the energy of whatever touches it.

She had hoped, if she were able to face Ignatius as distraction, that she could buy time in the moments that it ate his flame-if only until the fae no doubt realized it and over powered her instead.

For now, this is all she has. She fuels the shield, and braces for whatever may come.

"This madness is your responsibility," Ignatius roars at the count. "Snow-bred fool!" He points towards the ritual circle now, his flame growing bright again with rage.

"Collect your bloodkin and kill the rest."

And almost as soon as he's gotten Strange to this side of the courtyard, he's out. Childermass looks at the collapsing magician with some alarm as well as some annoyance and then shoots a look up at Lambert.

"Well, that saves me the trouble," he mutters, voice dry and rough from his days in the dungeons, the overall hardship that being trapped here had entailed. Not as bad as being stuck for years, admittedly, but it hadn't been much fun regardless. Anyway, maybe he'll just punch Strange later.

His attention is immediately pulled away when the Count returns, though. Even though he now realizes that thing isn't his father, the spark of fear he feels is still all too real. He wants to flee, but he can't. He doubts he has the energy to do much else after that last stunt.

"No..." He starts quietly, then tries again, raising his voice, praying it'll carry across the chaos around them, "No! Don't listen to him!" As if the Lord of Fire will believe him, but he must try. "He'll only open the gateway back for Winter! You'll still be trapped here!"

Yuya holds his hands out to Peridot. "You have the Earth Spirit in you, right?! You can help us break the Severing! Come here and I'll explain it!"

He glances aside to the starting deal of the Fae, and he's certain then--they're out of time. Out of it to argue, fight, or get the pendant back.

"Trust us! Please! We just need you, Peridot!"

Steven is super confused, too, but it sounds like everyone else is understanding something they aren't. Is the ritual able to happen now? Steven barely knows what the ritual is about let alone the fact that Peridot could fill the requirements.

Yet, there is at least one thing he has a strong opinion on. He glares at the arguing fae, and takes Peridot by the hand - racing back into the circle with the rest, he puts himself between Childermass and the two of them.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" he yells at them, and summons his shield with his spare arm.

Taako is just about to complain about how none of his shit even works here, why is he bothering, when... well, a whole lot of things happen more or less at once, interrupting his hissy fit pretty effectively.

When it's announced that they can undo the severing right then, he just about collapses, exhausted and in too much pain to even bother feeling annoyed by the failure of his admittedly very stupid and dangerous plan.

... and then he hears the return of the Count, and Ignatius's response, and he pushes himself right back up to watch, whining through his teeth as he moves.

"Son of a bitch." But he does ready himself to cast, should he need to-- he might not be able to move, but he can at least try to help keep those assholes off of them.

Ignatius just has to do everything himself, apparently. He figures that Damien's threats about disbanding the ritual must be moot now - there's nothing between him and tearing every one of these assholes limb from limb. He starts marching towards the ritual circle, with the full intent to kill - his aura alone sends waves of hot air in all directions.

If they need to clear the way, then he can do that just fine.

"If you're gonna do it, then do it already!" Rita barks at those needed for the ritual. "The rest of us can hold them off." She takes a fighting stance, putting herself between Ignatius and the ritual circle. If she's ever going to stand up to him, now seems like a good time to do it.

Rita's no fool. She saw what happened to Axel and the others, and she knows she's powerless against Ignatius. Almost all of her offensive magic is just a lesser version of his. So how can she possibly...

She remembers now; the magic. Her blastia is gone... which means there's only one spell she can use. The spirit magic she recently developed, that formula... it should work!

"O countless particles that wander the heavens, rain down and glorify the land!" Standing with renewed defiance, Rita gathers power for her spell. A magic circle, made of light, appears around her in a spherical form as she compiles the formula and chants the incantation. "Meteor Storm!!"

The magic circle around her vanishes, and in that instant... large rocks start falling from above, crashing down randomly in the general vicinity of Ignatius and the Count. They gather heat as they fall, but that part won't do any harm to Ignatius. Rita tries to avoid hitting any allies, but if someone happens to be on the move, there's a chance of them stepping into the path of those rocks.

There isn't really time to confer with Childermass or even contemplate any of the million things he could be thinking about right now, but upon hearing several cries of 'Peridot' where the bulk of the action is taking place, well, he may not understand what's going home, but he can understand what Yuya's saying, and it makes intuitive sense, somehow.

It's only three words that he has the energy for, and it's amazing he gets them out at all, considering the damn state his vocal cords are in.

"Take us home!" he calls out, wincing with the effort, and he curls over Strange's body, looking up at Childermass and manages in a much softer hiss, "Stay close!"

A quick gesture of his hand sends an orange shield bubbling up over him and the thoroughly unconscious mage -- and the changeling (no, magician) as well.

As this all goes on, a shadowy presence will arrive a the entrance to the castle, behind the backs of the other two fae. Slowly, a rolling cloud of black ash will glide across the snow, leaving marks of soot and burned things as it travels.

Until, that is, the moment where it rises up behind Ignatius into the giant silhouette of a dragon - that immediately latches its jaw around his shoulder, digging in vicious fangs and exhaling smoke.

"I CAN DO THAT TOO, IDIOT!" the beast snarls as she bites down hard. Except not The Beast, exactly. She left that title behind a long time ago.

The Count explodes into birds again, as Rita's meteors shower the area surrounding Ignatius and the dragon. He's not leaving this time, though - instead, he dodges away from the falling rocks, and starts to take form again, much closer to Childermass and the others. He doesn't have time to wait for Ignatius's stupidity.

He raises his cloak-like wings, and sends another shower of birds towards the ritual.

In the middle of all this chaos is a patch of stillness. Axel's starting to figure out what's going on, and while he doesn't remember much of his other life yet, it's getting easier. He reaches for Taako's hand, careful not to move his shoulder, and gives it a squeeze.

"Yeah, let's go home."

His other hand rises up, making a wall of very real fire to block the count's birds just outside the ritual's wall. Circles of fire... kind of his thing. But not something he's done in this life.

Childermass doesn't need to be told twice. As soon as recognizes what Lambert's about to do — it's hilarious how that suddenly makes sense, that he really is a monster hunter and that he now has magic — and immediately shoves himself through the snow, closer to Strange's other side. He'll fit in under witcher's shield, he just has to pull in his damn scarecrow legs in closer.

"Can this even hold against that thing?", he whispers back, attention snapping straight back to where the Count has reappeared, closer now.

The Earth Spirit can help break the severing-- Oh, DUH. After this is all over, Peridot is going to just kick herself for not figuring that one out right away, given what she knows already about the ritual. She stumbles awkwardly after Steven, a myriad of thoughts racing through her head.

Does she actually trust these people? NOPE. Not really! But speaking practically, with a fiery fae closing the gap in order to murder them all, she doesn't really have the luxury of time to spend on asking a million nosy questions about how this process is going to work. More to the point, the Earth Spirit trusts them all, which is enough to tell her that this is the right thing to do.

She doesn't need to be told more than twice. She flaps her wings and practically crash lands next to Yuya, her transformation receding somewhat on impact. At least she has actual hands and arms now, even if her clothing is a bit worse for wear.

"Whatever you need to do, just do it quick!" she snaps, wincing. She's barely used the Earth Spirit's abilities to do anything that out of the ordinary, but already it's presence is starting to wear on her.

Taako isn't sure what catches him more by surprise-- Axel taking his hand and squeezing it, or the sudden ring of fire summoned up around them. Not that he's not grateful for the fire, given his condition and the Count's sudden bird onslaught...

Okay. Fine. He closes his hand in Axel's, and lets himself fall back against the ground beside him, sighing.

"Yeah, fuck it, right?" He smirks tiredly. "Better than getting picked apart by a bunch of fuckin' birds, anyway."

Yuya looks up at the Ringermaster as she comes crashing in--loudly. His head is ringing as the chaos starts up again, but Peridot is here and--and they're going to make it out.

He moves to rest his hands on Periot's shoulders to steady her, facing her. "It will be. Yugo has to pierce my soul and the Earth Spirit in you. It'll hurt, but you'll be fine. Everything will be fine! We're going home."

He smiles, strong and determined as he draws her to the center of the ritual. She has every chance to pull away as he does, but he still looks for Yugo as they make it there. "Now--Miss Pru, give him the Hand of God!"

Pru moves towards Yuugo, and carefully hands him the Hand of God, currently in the form of a rapier. She is shocked by how quickly this turned around, but for the moment she is intent on keeping her composure.

"This is it. Are you ready?" she asks him, closing his hand around the handle. "Remember what Damien told you. We'll be backing you up."

Then, she steps away to take her position, and Damien does as well.

"It'll hold long enough," Lambert hisses back, brows furrowing, even if the answer is actually I don't know. A few of the Count's crows plow into Carly's fires, which are arguably a much more effective barrier than his own, and every impact makes him tense up.

Steaming, he sags to the floor, his portal closing as his shape stops being so flat and dishlike and pulls in on itself, like a hand splayed out wide for too long finally getting to relax. Many, many of his eyes are seared but blearily he sees the ash spread above. Whatever's happening he can't... it hurts, he's tired...

The sea. It's cut off from the greater ocean of the Earthmind and can't be a conduit to it, but it's not just a place to store things, it sustains him even by itself. It breaks down chunks of concrete he'd left in it and a little fresh strength comes to him. Even seeing that the ash is... some kind of friendly? is that the Ringmaster? and that it looks like people have got this, he rises unsteadily.

He doesn't know what he'll do if something else comes up, he's still reeling, but he will try. No matter how effective or ineffective he's ever been, he has to try.

"Wait-- What was that about piercing--"

Nope OK she's getting shoved into the ritual circle anyway. Maybe this is actually a terrible idea? She doesn't really like the sound of this--! NOTHING BEING SAID HERE IS REASSURING.

Steven is concerned about what's happening here. Piercing? What? He looks at Peridot, his eyes going wide as she's pushed towards the center of the circle.

"Peridot?" he says, but doesn't know what to do. If they stay here, they'll die.

They don't need the pendant for the ritual huh? Trying this new plan is better than watching that fire fae kick everyone's asses into the ground one by one with ease. Yugo takes the weapon delicately and oh god now he has to stab two people with this thing.

"Right! Of course! I'm ready...!"

Or at least he needs to be ready right this second when there's the threat of that flaming tank bearing down on them. All of Yugo's last minute practice with Damien and the Pru comes down this. While riddled internally with nervousness, the blade is touched to each ritual pillar as other necessary magics come into effect. And then all too soon with Yuya and Peridot lined up for the strike he has to steel himself hard in order to-

"Hahh!!!"

-punch the blade through them, Yugo succeeding in not harming their physical bodies yet...

Yuya continues to offer Peridot a reassuring smile as Yugo dances around the pillars. "It's all right! It's not going to kill us. We'll be--"

He chokes on his words as the blade runs through him, and all of that assuage and comfort die on his face immediately. The blade sears his chest--not the flesh and bone, although he almost can't tell the difference. No, the pain runs deeper than that, runs deeper than his heart and mind and he can feel the tear that the blade makes in his soul.

In the back of his head old, dusty, muddled memories start to throb. Back when he was whole, that burning agony as he felt himself torn apart, burned, purified. This doesn't come with that finality, that loss as pieces of himself fell apart and his memories were blinded from them. But he still feels the rip, the break at the core of his being from the magic pushing through the both of them.

"How dare you! I'll never forgive you!"

It hurts. His mind goes dumb, the thoughts of Yuzu, his parents, the carnival, everything that pushed him to go through with this muddle into incomprehensible blankness, disoriented, dizzy.

The words that died on his tongue catch deep in his throat before they contort into a scream.

Edited 2017-07-30 06:19 (UTC)

Peridot catches Steven's eye right before it happens, her expression fearful. She wants to say something-- Probably something really dumb and fatalistic, like "take care of Lapis for me" or "make sure Amethyst gets custody of the rasta banana", but the hand strikes through before she can get anything out.

It's awful. Worse than any pain she's experienced before in her thousands of years of life, and she's fallen off of multiple cliffs, had huge metal machines dropped on her-- twice-- she's been squeezed until her form dissipated under the pressure, for pity's sake. All that? Doesn't even come close to this. Damage to a physical form is one thing, but this... This is like she's being stabbed through the very essence of what makes her a gem.

She doesn't scream. Instead, she gasps, and then makes a piteous wheezing sound, eyes unfocusing as she's swept up in a miasma of unimaginable pain.

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lordofthering - 2017-07-30 06:31 (UTC) - Expand

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⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4 PT2

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