⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4 PT2

[ringleaders]

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.

Comments

[small_reservations]

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.

[atouts]

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.

[periphrasing]

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.

[tacosgay]

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."

[hippocarnival]

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!"

[npcarnival]

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.

[whattaprick]

"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.

[espigeon]

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.

[periphrasing]

"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.

[starseedling]

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.

(frozen comment)

[bananaspeedrider]

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...

(frozen comment)

[hippocarnival]

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.

(frozen comment)

[periphrasing]

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.

(frozen comment)

[lordofthering]

She can feel it when it breaks - it's the freedom to reach out, like she had so many times before. She can feel her own realm waiting for her, and for all the others. She delves into the remains of her power, reaching out across the city for all those that didn't make it to these gates. Phew. This is going to take a lot out of her. She's going to have to choose her last actions wisely.

The dragon raises her wings, calling out to her home, and claiming what is hers beneath her wings - as well as a few additional guests. In the next moment, all of them are gone, lost in a sea of a colour.