lostcarnival | ⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

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⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 138 - Day 152
Where: The Summerlands
What: The Ringmaster brings the carnival to the Summerlands immediately after being freed from Portland so that everyone can take a fucking nap. Her included.
Warnings: Individually marked! Most likely discussion of torture and trauma in here.

DAYS OF SUMMER↴

You made it! And things are back to normal... more or less. Upon waking, you will be greeted with a clear blue sky and gentle breeze – the carnival has found itself situated between a pair of mountain peaks, with great fields of flowers extending in the distance. In the other direction, you’ll see mountain-top cities and tall waterfalls accenting vast swaths of forest.

Some of you will already know this place. It’s the Summerlands. You game here once to rest in safety nearly a year ago, and now you’ve come to rest once again.

► WAKING UP: Shortly after the carnival arrives, the Ringmaster will send out a somewhat cryptic radio message - but her immediate location won't be clear. Whatever items you had on your person at the time the Severing was broken will still be on your person, including whatever clothing. All of the animals and pets of the carnival will have returned to the grounds as well, though they are currently free from their designated living spaces. Things in the carnival will appeared to have naturally aged a month, as if the carnival was been sitting here empty and waiting while everyone was in Portland. The lawn needs mowing.

► SUMMER CITY: After the Summer Fae become aware of everyone's presence, they will welcome you into their city. There are stairs that lead up the sides of the mountains, but thankfully there are also magical means of getting up there as well. The Summer Fae will be willing to help workers with the injured as needed, offering herbal remedies and healing magic to those that want it. You'll also be invited to join them for dinner, but they will not be particularly offended if they are turned down, for now.

► SUMMER PEOPLE: The fae here will mostly enjoy the company of any carnival members that offer it - it doesn't seem that much happens here besides day after day of peaceful meditation and relaxation. It is not uncommon to see Summer Fae spent days doing exactly the same thing, whether that be enjoying the weather, listening to music, or dancing - the day and night periods may be similar to earth, but when you don't need rest it can all blur together just the same. Some of the fae work on feats of agriculture or craftsmanship, and while there is no particularly need to work in this place, they take pride in the fact that they do.

► NEW ARRIVALS: Though the Ringmaster will not be offering much guidance for the first week or so, eventually the carnival will begin running for a few small performance sessions, off and on, as a thank you to their fae hosts. The carnival will also be open to receiving new arrivals during that period, and so there will likely be some newbies to train and get orientated as well.

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[Rita glances away when he smiles at her, even if she sort of shares the sentiment.]

Yeah. Unfortunately. [She sighs.] They're a pain in the ass. They just get in the way, and now I can't wear most of my clothes.

Carly can modify them for you. [He moves to sit up slowly and leans against the headboard, because if they're going to talk they might as well be at eye level with each other. Mostly.] Can you fly with them? That'd be cool.

[Carly...? Someone who works in wardrobe or tailoring, probably.]

I guess. They should be big enough to hold my weight. [But she looks uncertain, or at least, not like someone who thinks it's all that cool.]

You could use the acrobatic equipment to practice!
There's nets for if you fall. [Yuya will just think it's cool for the both of them, then. He's getting a lot more used to drastic physical changes.

Though...] Uh, but are you okay? You know, after everything.

[Rita looks mildly surprised; she hadn't thought of that. Maybe that would be a safe way to learn... if she decides to make the effort.

She hesitates at his question.]

I'm fine. I'm myself again, or as much as I can be, so... [It doesn't sound like she plans on finishing that sentence. The thought that, even for a short while, she wasn't Rita Mordio, but somebody else, and that if things had gone differently, she could have been like that for the rest of her life... it bothers her.]

I didn't go and get stabbed in the soul, like some people, so there's that.

[Yuya puts a hand on his chest as she mentions that, smiling brightly against her ire. It was still worth it, even if he feels a ragged, dull ache from deep within.] Yeah. You're still you and I'm still me.

[No fake memories are going to take that from them, or anything else that was important.] I'm really happy we're back!

Hmph. Is it that simple to you? Well... whatever. [Rita seems to be hesitating to say something. She taps her finger against the open page of her book, stopping only once she finds the nerve to say it.]

... You were right about the ritual. [This is Rita, actually admitting she was wrong about something. He wasn't just some dumb kid getting in over his head. The ritual was necessary, and Yuya did the right thing, even if Rita didn't like it.]

[It isn't that simple but Yuya's not about to have an identity crisis in front of Rita. So he just laughs it off.]

We got pretty lucky, didn't we? [That Yugo was an Angel with enough power, that he and Yuya were related... that the earth spirit possessed Peridot.

Speaking of.] Have you heard how Peridot is doing?

[Peridot... Should Rita know how she's doing? She is Rita's supervisor, so maybe she ought to be more attentive...]

Nothing specific. As far as I know, she's been resting, same as you.

[He really just wants to check on her, since it was really impromptu to involve her.] I guess if she was in worse shape we would have heard something? As long as everyone recovers...

They'll be fine, so long as they don't do anything stupid. [She gives him a sideways glance.] Same goes for you.

[Yuya just makes a face at her.] I'm not doing anything stupid.

[... Yet.]

[Rita will go ahead and say it:] Yet.

Just... be careful. It's when you think you've recovered that you're in the most danger.

[Not that Rita needs to be giving anyone lectures on recklessness, but... it's what Estelle said to her once, when she was in Yuya's position.]

I heard we're somewhere really safe now, so that's not going to be a problem. [He holds up a hand to stop her from countering.] And I know I can't practice or perform until I'm not dizzy. It's fine!

[There's too many people who won't let him until they find him suitably recovered, anyway.]

[Rita doesn't intend to argue it any further. Instead, she just scoffs.]

Safe? Yeah, right. We're in a fae realm. Summer Court.

[Before Portland, that wouldn't have meant anything to Rita, but now? It sets off a few alarm bells.]

I thought they weren't affiliated with the Portland fae? [Did he hear wrong? Well, that means he's just going to have to check these Summer Fae out for himself, isn't he?]

Nobody's been hurt further since we got here, right?

So they're not friends. That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous.

[To Rita, it doesn't matter if they haven't hurt anyone. That's not what makes the fae truly dangerous. They can do a lot more than hurt, and it often begins with some kind of deception.]

[This isn't an argument Yuya is going to win, and he's not attached to the fae enough to try and defend them. So he just sighs and lets it go, because thinking about the fae doing anymore damage to the carnival is the last thing he wants to think about right now.]

What book is that? [Is that a blatant subject change? Yes it is.]

This? [Rita looks back to the book, only now remembering its presence, despite its obvious weight on her lap.]

It's called Thanatologos. It contains just about everything we know about the gods worshiped by the ancient people of Terca Lumireis. [The forced change in subject doesn't go unnoticed, but she doesn't seem to mind.]

[There's just blank staring.] I don't know what either of those are. It sounds... important?

[Right... of course he doesn't know. Even if that world is everything to Rita, it's still mostly unheard of here.] Terca Lumireis is the name of the planet I'm from.

I don't know that the contents are that important, though. Most likely, there never were any gods... That's just what people called any beings whose nature they didn't fully understand. [And yet, she's reading it anyway.]

Oh! You brought books when you joined the carnival? [Now he wonders if people who had more time to prepare usually packed any luggage.] Are you studying them or something?

I always have a book with me. I just happened to have that one when I found this place.

It's usually books about magic theory or ancient civilizations. Things relevant to my magic research.

[Her research... she'd mentioned that once, but it feels so faraway after havign his head temporarily re-written. It was back in Alola, wasn't it?]

What did you ask the Ringmaster for, anyway? Just to stay and study magic? [That seems like such a lacking contract, since she could ask for anything and get that as a direct result of her tenure.]

You're not far off. I asked for knowledge of magic that can be used to develop new magic technology, for practical purposes.

I'll keep studying magic for my own benefit while I'm here, but... ultimately, that's the real goal of my research.

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⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

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