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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That's something he wished he had an answer to himself, but the best he's ever gotten is 'seems to be random' and it's one hell of a frustrating answer. But yes, he does mean flying, and he'll say as much, finishing where Rita trailed off.

"Flying. Yes, that kind of useful," he confirms before finishing what he'd been doing before, reaching for the nearest wing. He'll gently push on the wing's edge, trying to get the wing to fold back in and against her back. "Just think of it like crossing your arms, only against your back instead of your front."

The wing bends as he pushes it, and fortunately, the other wing follows the movement, simply because it's more comfortable for both to sit in the same position. Though the motion is awkward and jerky, they fold neatly against her back, where her tunic was torn during the overnight transformation. Somehow, Rita slept through it.

"How can you be so calm at times like this?" she asks through gritted teeth. "This is all screwed up. Losing our memories, almost getting killed, turning into circus freaks... We didn't sign up for any of this!"

"Ah, but we did. It just wasn't all laid out in the fine print," he points out, entirely unhelpful when it comes to being visibly upset about the situation. He is, actually, in quite a few ways, but he's also Childermass. He plays most things close to his (recently cut up and bled out) chest.

Wings folded properly, he steps back again, one step, two, and sits down heavily on his own bunk — the lower one — once he feels hit come up against his heel.

"If you really want to know, it's because I'm too tired for anything else right now. I'll leave all the yelling to the younger members of the carnival..." Like Rita. She's free to yell all she wants. He isn't like to stop her so soon after Portland. "Well, that or I may simply be used to it by now. My own feathers were the first obvious changes I had, months ago. I wasn't too happy about that, either."

Childermass receives a glare at his initial answer. That's not what Rita wanted to hear.

But he goes on, and her stare wavers and turns downward. Her fists clench at her side... She wants to hit something, or someone, and Childermass isn't a good candidate for that right now. "Ugh...!" With a grunt of frustration, she opts to smack one of those fists against a cupboard door instead. It rattles violently, but fortunately doesn't break.

"I just... I finally got to be me again, and now I can't even be that anymore." Being human is part of who Rita Mordio is... or was. But even as she regained her full identity, she just went from being one kind of changeling to another. She'll never really be human again.

He might survive a punch. Probably. Still, he really wouldn't appreciate it, so it's for the best that she opts to take her anger out on the poor, unfortunate furniture instead. Childermass will only watch quietly for a moment, letting her work the anger out of her system in whatever way she's used to.

But in the end, he has to raise an eyebrow at what she says in the end.

"Oh? And how are you not still you? Are you not Rita Mordio anymore, all of the sudden?"

Why? Because she's not human. Because she has memories of a whole other life. Isn't that...

"No..."

Even though Childermass is simply restating what Rita just said, there's a defiance that rises up inside her. "I'm..."

She never hesitates or doubts herself like this. If anything, that's the most un-Rita-like thing about her right now. She knows that, but she's struggling to find her next words.

"Yes? You're...?" Childermass prompts, waiting expectantly for an answer. It may have only seemed like a rephrase of what Rita herself had said, but it's a little more than that.

If Rita isn't Rita, then who is she? Not herself, but why? Just all because of some unexpected turn of fate?

"I'm... still me," she relents. It's the only answer there is for Rita. She squeezes her eyes shut, her shoulders still tense, as she fights against her own doubts. "Even now, I'm Rita Mordio. I know that. But..."

Rita turns, leaning her winged back awkwardly against that cupboard she just punched, as she seems to work something out in her mind. She shakes her head, as if dismissing a certain thought. "No... The other Rita was me, too. She just didn't know it at the time." Her eyes flick to Childermass, then down to the floor. "...I was meaning to thank you for that, actually. If it wasn't for your slip-up back then, I wouldn't have realized it as soon as I did."

"Hm?" That he's being thanked at all garners a surprised look, eyebrows lifting up briefly. It'll never be something he's used to, though he's thankfully shed how uncomfortable it made the Portland version of himself feel. "Ah, that. I'm glad that helped, then, even if I did not realize it either at the time."

Her name had fallen into place with his own struggling memories of the carnival, with no real purpose other than realizing, yes, he knew who she was. The rest, however...

"And the Ringmaster did say they were real, those people we were, but I would not let it shape who you already are or want to be, Miss Mordio. As for the rest," he says, nodding towards the wings, "It's temporary, or so I've been told. What the carnival changes about you is meant to fade once you leave it for good."

Temporary...!? Rita's head turns sharply to face him. "Y... you're sure about that!?" Well, he more or less just told her how sure he is. She looks back to the floor again, and lets out a heavy sigh. No... even if it's not completely certain, it's enough to know that it's even possible to go back to being human.

"I'll have to look into that..." she breathes, seemingly starting to calm down. "I still have the better part of a year to figure everything out." And for Rita, that's plenty of time.

"As sure as I can be," he'll admit that much. "More than a few of the newer folk have the same sort of reaction to their changes and those longer employed have that opinion, that it's no big deal. I'm not sure how much of a relief hearing that opinion is to most since it still means living with it for a year and a day."

There, that's better than being upset. Childermass himself is fairly certain the supervisors wouldn't outright lie about that, so he, too, clings to that particular hope. He has no intentions of turning back up in England covered in feathers, thank you very much.

"No... I can deal with a year." There's a calm resolve in her voice. Rita was already prepared to put up with all kinds of crap for the contract period... provided it's actually limited to that period.

"I just didn't know how I'd go back and face everyone as some freak of nature." She was only just beginning to shed her reputation as a freak with the other mages. This sure as hell wouldn't help. That, and trying to imagine what Estelle and the others would think if they saw her...

"Oh, I don't know. You would think the average human might be more envious of wings than disapproving," Childermass makes that one and only effort to make it sounds 'not so bad', but honestly, it's a good thing they can all go back to normal. "Do you plan on learning to fly with them?"

Rita gives him a humorless look, but he isn't entirely wrong. Growing wings and flying in the sky is something lots of people have dreamed of, since the dawn of time...

Unfortunately, Rita's not sure she counts herself as one of those people. When asked about flying, she sighs, and with some reluctance, answers, "Yeah. It's what they're for... so it'd be a waste not to." Flying is a useful ability, and without learning, the wings would just get in her way without ever serving a practical purpose.

"I hope you're prepared to jump off a lot of high places to figure it out, then," Childermass says, probably coming off as a little more amused than Rita might like. It's weird to think about how much he knows about flying himself when he isn't the one with wings.

That is a terrifying thought, and it shows in how Rita flinches at the mental image, her shoulders tensing and her teeth clenching. Was that a joke? It'd better be a joke.

"Yeah, right. There's got to be a better way to do it than that," she retorts, an uneasy edge in her tone.

"Oh, I suppose there's also jumping off slightly less high places," Childermass replies. Overall, 'jumping off things' is unavoidable. However, he can at least suggest one.

"You could try off the top of the trailer once you get a better feeling for your wings."

"That much should be doable, but..." But it all comes back to jumping off things... Rita sighs, then shakes her head. "I'll figure something out. I always do."

She faces one of the trailer windows, considering the dark sky outside. It's still the middle of the night, but she's much too worked up to think about going back to sleep. This conversation's given her a few things to think about, besides.

"...I'm going out," she says abruptly. "I'll let you get back to sleep."

To which he'll nod, actually looking just a little grateful at the thought. He does still need sleep, a lot of sleep, and getting back to it is exactly what he'll do once Rita heads out.

"I hope you have a peaceful walk, then, Miss Mordio."

He won't waste breath telling her to be careful or anything. It's the carnival grounds, in the Summerlands, and she can set people on fire. She'll be perfectly fine.

"Peaceful isn't exactly what I had in mind," Rita replies with a hint of her usual smugness. She's probably going to go blow off some steam with some explosive magic. Fortunately for Childermass, she intends to do it far away from the trailers.

She opens the door, steps outside... and can be heard cursing and struggling when her wings get caught in the doorway. It's going to take a while to get used to their presence. Eventually, she does get all the way out and leaves Childermass with some peace and quiet.

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⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

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