lostcarnival | [Open]

Entry tags:

[Open]

Who: Yuya & everyone
When: Day 146-152
Where: Around the Carnival & Summerlands
What: Recovery, new changes, and continued antics while the carnival has a nice, long break.
Warnings: None, probably?

[Handstands]
[Yuya's in significantly better health than when they first arrived. He can still feel the residual pain and his stamina is rebuilding, but he's much more lively than before. He also realizes he needs to rebuild his strength, so even if he can't perform yet he's at least practicing so that he'll be ready to bounce back into action as soon as he's cleared.

He's taking his exercise outside the tents so the rest of the performers have plenty of room, and instead can be found tending to his errands around the carnival... on his hands. Just walking on his hands, knees bent for better balance as he navigates from the trailers to the cookhouse for lunch.] Excuse me! Coming through!

[Shadow]
[His shadow has been acting up since he returned. At first he was sure it was just a trick of his mind, but the long it goes on, the more chances he has to see that it is, in fact, just moving on its own sometimes. Okay, that's weird, but he just tries to ignore it. Only it doesn't end there, and by the second week it's taken on a different shape entirely. That's not uncommon, he's been assured, but when he finds it morphed into someone a little broader, taller (older), with hair that spikes up... it's unsettling.

He knows who it looks like. He's standing, shoulders tense as he glares at his own shadow. In the middle of the walkway.]

[Summerlands]
[Yuya's come to accept the Summer people. They're certainly not at domineering, volatile, or frightening as the rest of the Summer Court, and plenty of veterans--not the mention the Ringmaster seem to trust them wholly. So he's navigated deeper into the city, to one of the miracle gardens hidden behind pillars and wisteria.

It's a very small, circular garden, flush and green with scattered flowers. The greatest concentration of them, currently, is around Yuya--who's sitting down with dried fruit to snack on, looking serene.

It's easy to tell what's going on, because as soon as anyone steps in with a positive feeling flowers will start to sprout near them. The better they feel the bigger, brighter, more beautiful the flowers become. They smell wonderful, and something about that scent will bring good memories more easily to the front of their mind--no doubt generating more good feelings and more flowers. It's cyclical.]

[Wildcard]
[???]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bigger fireballs. Multiple fireballs. So far... just fireballs. [She shrugs, then sends the flame floating up into the air above them. When it's safely away, it suddenly bursts into sparks and smoke, like a miniature firework.]

I can't seem to use it in as many ways as the other me could, but I'm sure I'll figure it out before long.

[Yuya is a fireworks kind of guy so he looks up to watch the little light show, grinning. It reminds him of the flashy displays from some of his favorite action fields.

He leans back on his hands, a few more flowers sprouting.] Everything about our memories there was weird, but if yoh can still do it then all you have to do is practice. You'll fight it out!

Yeah... I know I will. [She finishes off that handful of fruit, then gives a startled glance at their surroundings when she notices the new flowers. Those weren't there before, were they...? It definitely seems like there's magic in the plants around here, but that doesn't say much. There's magic all over the place in this realm.]

[But whatever magic it is, it doesn't appear to be dangerous... so she turns her attention back to Yuya.] Come to think of it... I don't think I ever asked. Why did you join the carnival, anyway?

[Yuya turns his attention back to her. She didn't ask, and he didn't usually offer that information. Not because he was embarrassed, but because it comes with a lot of baggage that's hard to talk about.

Still, he smiles softly as he answers.] The Ringmaster agreed to protect some people who are really important to me.

[A year of service just to make sure they would be okay. Whatever happens from there is worth it.]

Protect them? You mean... they're in danger?

[Now that she thinks about it, Rita doesn't know much about Yuya or his home. With how upbeat he normally is, she didn't expect anything too dire. But then... she's starting to see that he might be the kind of person who doesn't show that sort of thing.]

[Yuya purses his lips and nods, the mirth draining from his face a bit. They were in danger a large part because of him. He didn't have the strength on his own to protect them after all... but at least he found someone who did.

But he doesn't elaborate.]

I know she's keeping her promise. [He knows because she's already begun to, as far as he can tell. If Reira was safe, Yuzu would be too.]

[Rita narrows her eyes at that response. He's being pretty vague.] What makes you so sure?

She already saved one of them. She's definitely going to save Yuzu as well. [And he sounds wholly confident in that. Look, he can't be confident in himself, he has to trust someone to take care of his friends.]

[That surprises her. The Ringmaster actually followed through on one of those promises? Then maybe her own contract really will pay off in the end...]

Who's Yuzu? [Someone important to him, she gathers, but beyond that, she can't really imagine. She also wonders what these people are supposed to be saved from... but she'll try to keep it to one question at a time.]

She's my friend. We knew each other since we were little, and she's always been there for me. [Even in the end, it was Yuzu that reached him. Not to diminish everyone else's efforts, but she always knew just what to say to Yuya...

More flowers sprout up, and their scent reminds Yuya of his much more peaceful memories before Academia, and the other dimensions, and the truth.] She and Gongenzaka would always encourage and protect me. She's a really strong girl, she doesn't let you get away with anything!

[It's hard not to reminisce when the flowers remind him of everything important about her.]

A friend like that, huh... [Rita's never had a childhood friend or anything, but it sounds... nice, she guesses. She's not sure why, but she finds her mind wandering to thoughts of her own friends...]

So you're saying you'd get in a lot of trouble without her? That explains a few things. [There's a slight smirk on her face.]

I got in trouble anyway. [Usually with Yuzu. He laughs, looking down at the flowers.]

I was bullied a lot as a kid, but I could always trust Yuzu. And when I was sad she always cheered me up. [Those memories are a little painful, knowing he could never return the favor. Absently he reaches for the stem of one of the pink flowers, but he doesn't quite pluck it free.] And I felt like as long as she believed in me, I could do it.

[She did so much for him, saving her is the least he can do. A year of his life is nothing, for that.]

[Rita listens, though her expression doesn't change much as he speaks. She's not used to sincere conversations like this. Being trusted, supported, and cheered up by someone... It sounds like the two of them were close.]

[Which brings her mind back to the question...] What happened to her?

[Ah. That kills the smile on his face immediately, and his face scrunches up as he tries to keep the pain controlled enough that he can tell her. There's a moment of silence, and he shifts forward, plucking the flower from the ground.]

Our home was invaded, and they were after her. She got away, but they never stopped chasing her. I tried to find her before they did, but--[Every time it was too late. Or too little. Somehow they always pulled her from his grasp.

He crushes the stem between his fingers.] I had to save her, so I got the Ringmaster to help.

[Rita looks away while he answers, her gaze drifting to the flowers once again. She knew it was a question that could only have an unpleasant answer. In a way, she understands. At the very least, she knows what it's like to have someone to protect, even if it's against seemingly insurmountable odds...]

Hmph... I figured you'd be here for some altruistic reason like that. That's just like you. [At least, it's not too different from his Portland self, who'd throw himself into danger without a second thought if it could help others.]

[And if what he's saying is right, it looks like betting on a contract will pay off... for him, for Yuzu... and for Rita's goals, too.]

[Yuya snorts, spinning the flower between his fingers.] I didn't know you were analyzing me like that.

[It reminds him of Reiji, really, always calculating the situation--and the people--before him.] I don't regret it at all.

What? [That catches her by surprise. Rita doesn't want to look like she was paying close attention to him, or anything.] ...I'm just saying, you're that predictable. [And yet, she's the one embarrassed here.]

I study a lot of things, but people aren't really one of them.

Am I really? [Now that he thinks about it, he can think of a couple other people besides his best friends who were able to read him easily. Like Jack (the Jack he knew, anyway). Guess that comes with starting to wear your heart on your sleeve instead of hiding behind and act.] Well, as long as my performances are exciting and unpredictable...

The acrobatics? [She shrugs.] ...I guess? I don't really pay attention to that kind of thing. [Even though she does backstage work for most of the shows and technically watches them...]

That stuff can't be easy to pick up, though. Did you already know how to do it before joining the carnival?

[Yuya pouts a little at that, for a moment. But the chance to talk about his performing brightens his spirits.]

That's right. Back home we have a game called duel monsters that's really popular, and you play it on a big holographic field. I'm an entertainment duelist, so I learned a lot of acrobatics. But I've still been learning new stuff here, like the silk ropes with Tamaki.

The Ringmaster probably makes sure people are doing things they're already capable of. Is it the same for you?

[She tilts her head as he mentions duel monsters. Not only is it hard to visualize what a game like that might look like, but... hasn't she heard something similar to that before? Something that new guy from the other day mentioned...]

[But he asked her a question, and she considers her answer for a moment before replying.]

Me? ...Sort of. The technology here is alien to me, but I'm normally good with machines, so I picked it up pretty quickly. I can use magic to enhance the visual effects, and I have a chance to familiarize myself with the technology... so it's not too bad.

It is that different? [The technology is probably the most familiar thing here for Yuya. Except, you know, with more magic. But he can recognize a microwave.] So you studied magic at home and here you help with all the set-up for our shows, right?

[Rita nods.] Completely different. My world doesn't have machines that run on electricity. We use blastia for everything.

So... yeah. That's about right. [Come to think of it, Portland used electricity too. She wonders if that's the norm for a lot of worlds...]

[No machines that run on electricity, or no electricity at all? Are they in the coal age or somehow even more advanced? So many possibilities.] What's blastia?

[Yuya's just going to have her tell him instead of trying to guess.]

[Now that's a question Rita's always happy to answer.]

Blastia are an ancient technology, restored in recent generations. They convert a substance called aer, found in the atmosphere, into magic energy, which we then use for practical purposes. Heating, lighting, safety, clean water... even magic. We have all of those things thanks to blastia.

[She wears a fond smile as she speaks, almost like she was talking about an old friend instead. Around her, several new sprouts begin to grow from the ground.]

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