⇨ SAY UNCLE

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone who isn't in jail!
When: Day 175, 11:30PM onward.
Where: The Realm that used to contain Heartstone Manor.
What: Team carnival has gotten what they came for, but in the meantime they have lost what they came with. With his ace in the hole gone, the Prince is tearing apart the Heartstone Manor and reshaping it into an impregnable fortress to lock away his new most precious commodities - the Ringmaster's captured followers. Welcome to a hostage situation, this could take a while.
Warnings: Violence, and etc.

AFTER THE BALL↴ Around 11:30PM is when everything starts changing - and for most in Heartstone Manor, the triggers will have remained unseen. In the ongoing thunderstorm it was easy to miss, and the Prince losing control over his realm only occured before a small group of workers intent on saving the carnival from a terrible fate. An ancient High Fae artifact called the Blue Rose was stolen from the Prince, and in reaction he is being forced to abandon his plans of controlling the Ringmaster, instead trying to hide away in his realm for the purposes of saving his own skin. His main bartering chip? The workers that he's been capturing up to this point. He knows that, unlike himself, the Ringmaster cares about mortals, and especially about the ones who follow her. He's willing to bet that she won't allow them to die for the sake of her own convenience, and he's right. Now that the Blue Rose is the carnival's, she's intent to take back what was stolen from her, as well as the lives of all the servants that the Prince has been stealing away for eons. By whatever means necessary. ► SPLIT THE EARTH: Characters all across the Manor will be treated with initial tremours that will soon escalate into a full-fledged earthquake, capable of collapsing buildings and rending the earth. The cause of this is simple: the Prince is using his powers of elemental earth to reshape his realm into something more suited to protect him. Specifically, he is changing what was a manor house into a fortress meant to defend, and allowing the rest to collapse into ruin. The Manor is still nothing but a castle floating in a void - as the earth breaks apart, it will be nothing but an endless freefall between the floating chunks of debris. Over the next twelve house that earthen debris will be reshaping and solidifying into a new layout, but having to be there while it happens is one hell of a ride! ► BREAK THE ILLUSION: It's as the world starts shaking that the last of the Prince's spell over the minds of his guests will begin to fade away. However, it may wear off more slowly than is helpful in an emergency earthquake situation. The ballroom trance may linger even as lives are threatened, and it will take a pointed effort to make sure that everyone gets out of the Manor's collapse safely. At the same time, the illusionary guests will begin to fade and disappear. The ones that remain are the ones that are real, but it may be a bit painful to realize which ones were simply a lie to begin with. ► SAVE WHO YOU CAN: Despite being knocked out by a surprisingly massive blast from the Prince's magic crystal, the Ringmaster will manage to gather herself up eventually. When she does, the last of the storm will finally come to an end. She'll be doing what she can to try to gather up both servants of the Prince and all of her workers, but it'll be impossible to get to all of them first. A large portion of the servants have undoubtedly been stolen away by the Prince into his newly built fortress, but with the effort of carnival members new and old, they can still save as many as possible. Of course, those held in the Prince's most secure prisons will remain out of reach... for now. ► WAKE THE SUN: As the worst of the earthquakes stop and the new islands of floating land begin to settle, the clouds from the thunderstorm will finally pass, as the Ringmaster seems to summon up a sun to light the realm for the first time since the carnival's arrival. In reality it's sometime in the early, early morning by the Manor's schedule, but whatever! It's easier to not die when the sun is out, don't you think? The Prince's security and gargoyle soldiers are still out and about, and they're clearly interested in capturing as many hostages as possible. ► SIGN A CONTRACT: This is when the Ringmaster will be taking those that were summoned to the Prince's ball aside to offer them contracts in order to free them from the Prince's influence. She'll do her best to explain that the only way to wipe out his control is to take on a new 'master', but they can take some time to think about it if necessary. The truth is, of course, that until they officially sign onto the Ringmaster's camp, there will still be the chance that the Prince will be able to control them. ► WALK THE RUINS: One Day 176 things will have settled completely, with the land now forming a massive fortress on the far side of several large floating islands. The ruins of the old buildings will scatter those islands, forming towers that will swiftly gain small colonies of gargoyles, ready to swoop down and attack carnival members. Further complicating matters is the fact that the rending of the landscape has resulted in bursting open the underground prisons that the Prince had been keeping his most bestial servants, which mean all kinds of mortals long since twisted into the forms of giant spiders, scorpions, monstrous beasts, and other terrifying creatures will now be running amock on the islands, desperate for food. Try not to hold it against them - they didn't ask to be this way. ► REGROUP: While the Ringmaster doesn't want everyone to just run back home (if they do that, the Prince will undoubtedly make them unable to enter again, or at least take over the landscape more fully) she will manage to open a portal back to the carnival in the afternoon of Day 176, formed between two freshly grown trees. This means that carnival members will be able to fetch new clothing, supplies, weapons, and whatever they need to prepare for the battle ahead. Right now, the chaos is still unfolding, but the battle to save the Prince's captives is still ahead. [OOC: Gargoyles and transformed servants from the underbelly can be NPC'd from this point onward. Gargoyles are the Prince's most deadly servants made of extremely durable rock and bearing scorpion tails with venom that can turn bodies into stone. They want to grab anyone they can, trap them, and then fly them off to the Prince's dungeons as collateral. Don't let them! Transformed servants are the beasts who were freed from the underground prison they were left in to rot. They are servants that were transformed into monsters by the Prince, and most of them have been driven insane with bestial hunger from months and years of starvation and atmospheric poison. The Ringmaster is interested in helping them, to see if there is way they can be changed back, so if you have the heart nonlethal methods are most appreciated.]

Comments

[kingsroads]

"You don't sound so good either," Strange retorts, looking over at 9S. Because he doesn't. There's none of the usual pep or spark in the android's voice, just what sounds like bland disinterest. Strange, however, is trying his hardest to seem like a competent adult and not someone who's at sixes and sevens because of the fourth wall event. So, he looks back at the scorpion, still struggling in the earthen hand...

...and realizes he didn't think this through as much as he should have. Hmm. What a surprise.

"Does Pod have anything that we could use to knock out the scorpion?"

Just ignore the fact that Strange outright ignored 9S's question about if he should be out here or not.

[dressedtothe]

"I'm fine." He's not. "No. When we fight machines, we exterminate them."

Androids don't take any prisoners. Machines would make worthless prisoners anyway. They would be dangerous, even, opening them to the possibility of infecting androids with a logic virus.

"Can't you just kiss it?" Like with the bicorn? "If you don't have other ideas, we should kill it. We can't afford to mess around."

He knows it could be a person. Maybe even a changed human. But the more time they waste with these maybe people, the more the actual people who are important slip out of their fingers.

[kingsroads]

"I've got plenty of ideas," Strange continues, with a roll of his eyes. "I'm simply not certain if they could work or if scorpions have noses."

A seemingly unrelated non-sequitur, but 9S saw his smoke form. It's not too hard to put together a plan involving the smoke going into the scorpion's lungs or hanging out around it's nose until the beast passes out, or something like that.

"And it isn't kissing. It's a combination of a spell of revelation mixed with de Chepe's breaking of charms, additions my own. It's just that kissing is the trigger for some odd reason."

So it's kissing. Just dumb magical kissing. "It's worth a shot, though."

[dressedtothe]

Well Strange better try them, otherwise 9S' very sharp and pointy sword is gonna bury itself in between the scorpion's eyes.

"Then do it." Gone is the wonder and curiosity from 9S' voice at hearing Strange's explanation of his magic. 9S' grip on his sword tightens, whiteknuckled underneath his gloves. "If it makes any funny moves, I'm killing it."

After everything in the last couple of days, 9S doesn't think he can deal with Strange dying on him, too.

[kingsroads]

Nowhere in Strange's mind does he realize that scorpions might be poisonous. Still, he's going to try the magic. He places his hands out in front of him, muttering something under his breath. There's the feel of magic, that tenseness that occasionally happens when Strange casts a spell. It lingers until Strange puts his hands to his side, leans in, and kisses the scorpion right on top of his scorpion head.

Nothing happens. Thankfully, it's just the stinger that's poisonous, not the scorpion itself. Strange isn't as annoyed as 9S most likely is because he knows this spell, he did it twice therefore it is something he can totally do...he just doesn't know what's stopping him.

"I wonder if the length of the transformations has anything to do with my ability to break them. After all, who knows how long this poor fellow's been an insect." Strange is not a biologist. He continues musing, with a frown. "I could turn him into something easier to carry, but I wonder about the effect of two simultaneous transfigurations on one's psyche."

[dressedtothe]

Well, that's disappointing. Now they're going to have to waste more time. God, he doesn't care about the theoretical right now. Do it, or don't, Strange.

"Can you hurry it up? I need you to search for Rita." A pause, before he adds, as if it's an afterthought, "...And for Lambert, too."

9S doesn't give a damn about some sad sack he doesn't know. What's more important is finding Rita and Lambert. Who are definitely humans. Humans who only have one life, and can't be brought back if they're killed.

If Rita were to die, his last memory of her would be of her storming off, angry at him.

[kingsroads]

This really isn't helping Strange's '9S totally has a crush on Rita' theory. Still, he can't help but glare at 9S as he voices his frustrations.

"You know as well as I do that this is someone changed. I'm not going to hurry up and cut corners trying to save someone's life." He turns back to the scorpion, still tailless, still struggling. The poor thing's already frantic and mutilated enough as is. Might as well try transfiguration. After all, this situation can only get better. Strange gestures at the scorpion, muttering an incantation as he dodges a swipe from the creature.

The scorpion starts to shrink, folding in on itself as it grows fur and about half a hairless tail (it's all kind of gross). The scorpion is now a mouse, lying unconscious on the ground, thanks to the transformation. Going over to the now-mouse, Strange gently picks it up and holds it to his ear.

"Well he's breathing." He's breathing more steadily than Strange, who visibly has to catch his breath. Unsurprisingly, when you spend the past few days throwing around magic and then cast a complex spell, it's a bit tiring. The servant turned scorpion turned mouse is gently set in Strange's coat pocket.

[dressedtothe]

Yeah, so what?

9S is impatient, practically champing at the bit, but even in this state he can recognise that interrupting isn't going to make Strange work any faster. So while Strange is working his magic, 9S is impatiently grinding the heel of his boot into the ground as he watched the giant bug turn into a small furry animal.

He should feel bad about pushing Strange like this, when he's clearly hitting that same exhaustion he experienced when they first met, but all it had taken was a bit of rest to get over it, hadn't it? Strange will be fine.

"...Well?" Is Strange gonna look for the two or not?

[kingsroads]

This attitude is really starting to annoy Strange. While he is a magician, he's also only human. Having 9S grumble about his methods, push him to work faster, and then try to shove him into something else is pissing off Strange more than he realizes.

So he simply frowns at 9S, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks down at the android. Understandably, everyone's under so much pressure right now. He doesn't have time to deal with this nonsense, not when there's people he needs to save.

"Well what?"

[dressedtothe]

9S frowns, half his expression hidden behind his combat visor. Is Strange being obtuse on purpose?

"Are you going to look for them with your magic or not?" That's the only reason he searched out Strange. "If you can't, I'm going ahead and searching for them myself."

Pod 153 chimes in, reporting to 9S, but its robotic voice is clearly audible to Strange, too.

< Report: Several unidentified lifeforms are converging on this location. Hypothesis: Lifeforms are creatures in the Prince's employ. Proposal: Unit 9S and Jonathan Strange should evacuate the area >

[kingsroads]

"Pod is right," Strange responds, with a little nod. As much as he wanted to save people, it wouldn't work if he was dead himself. Besides, he needs to take the unconscious mouse in his pocket to the Ringmaster.

"I'll look for them back at the carnival," he explains. Or, what's left of the carnival, anyway. "Scrying requires certain tools which I don't have on me right now." After all, if you're going to fight a bunch of scorpions, might not want to bring a big honkin' silverish basin with you. There's a pause, before Strange petulantly continues,

"And a 'please' would be lovely."

[dressedtothe]

"Damn it!" Not now! They don't have that kind of time!

But in the end, it seems they'll have to retreat anyway. He had no idea Strange needed tools to do that particular bit of English magic; he doesn't seem to need tools for everything else he's shown 9S. Unless Strange is tricking him...

...No, he wouldn't do that.

......But it's hard to have faith in that belief, when so much of what he believed in might be a lie.

9S grits his teeth, clearly unhappy at this turn of events. "Fine. We'll return to the carnival." I can't lose you, too.

< Alert: Unit 9S' mental function was placed in a semi-uncontrolled state over 24 hours ago. Unit 9S has not undertaken system maintenance since. Proposal: Unit 9S should remain in the carnival to perform a full data overhaul >

9S pointedly ignores Pod 153, saying to Strange instead, "...You should rest when we get there. You look beat."

[kingsroads]

"I'll rest if you do," Strange simply responds. Because you bet he heard Pod 153. Strange...doesn't entirely know what 'system maintenance' and 'full data overhaul' mean but he's got a good idea about what Pod 153 means by semi-uncontrolled state. Something messed with 9S's emotions and Pod 153 wants him to take a break, calm down, and rest as well.

He's also noticed that he didn't get that please. Dammit, kid. Still, 9S is obviously grumpy about something so might as well at least attempt a conversation.

"Do you wish to talk about this 'semi-uncontrolled state'?"

[dressedtothe]

What's with humans manipulating him by holding their well-being hostage like this? First Rita, now Strange...

It's going to be like that, is it? Fine.

9S turns to lead the way back to the portal opened by the Ringmaster to return them to the carnival. They can talk while they're leaving; the lifeforms converging on their location aren't going to wait for them to finish their conversation after all.

"You were affected too, weren't you? At the ball. I couldn't remember how I got there or what I was doing before that." His voice takes on a bitter twist. "All of us, lead around by fakes."

How dare the Prince use 2B against him! She's part of his memories! She's his!

[kingsroads]

But was it truly that bad? After all, he got to see Arabella. A part of Strange is just so angry, so horrified that the Prince used her image and her memory to trick him and dissuade him like that. How dare he use someone so sacred in Strange's mind, how dare he treat her like a fake! But another part of Strange, the part that's only seen glimpses of his wife in over a year, the part that misses Arabella so terribly he's fit to burst...that part didn't mind the illusions as much. She wasn't real, but for a few wonderful hours, she was.

Still, Strange is smart enough to keep his mixed opinions on the illusions to himself. 9S obviously hates them and Strange knows that butting in with his opinion would only make it worse.

"I was affected," Strange affirms, as they continue to walk back towards the carnival. "Apparently there was something in the food, something that poisoned us all at breakfast." Now that he takes proper offense with. "I spent all of the dance in a haze, dancing with what I thought was my wife."

Which makes this the second fake wife Strange has had to deal with, like goddamn universe, can you slow your roll on these things a little bit?

[dressedtothe]

"Yeah, I saw." Before he was distracted by the presence of 2B.

And that thought turns his expression into a deeper frown. He wants to just dismiss the words of that fake, but... what if it is true? That everyone is...

And everything they'd talked about... Were those really 2B's feelings? Or was some of it just what he wanted from her? A twisted perversion of his longing for to be closer to her when she always seemed so distant. Will they only be together in his dreams? He feels like such an idiot spilling all his feelings to something that wasn't real. He should've known...! He should've been able to see through it!

Calm down.
Calm down calm down calm down.
Focus on the issue at hand.

"...I'm sorry she wasn't real."

[kingsroads]

"There's no need to apologize. I'm glad she wasn't real. After all, if she was, then that means she'd either be here or with the Prince."

Of course Strange loves Arabella. Of course he's crushed that she wasn't real. He was devastated watching her fade in front of him. But, a few hours have passed and Strange has seen that some of the other guests were real. Arabella would have been miserable at the carnival and would have suffered under the Prince's thumb. As much it pains him to do so, it really is better overall that she wasn't real.

It still hurts, though. As much as he wants to logic this away, Strange can't get rid of the hurt inside his chest.

[dressedtothe]

"...I don't understand."

His throat feels tight with emotion.

2B... he was supposed to take her to the Ringmaster, beg for her to please allow 2B to join. A year and a day's worth of work. 2B had seemed like she was happy with the prospect of no command, no orders, being allowed to be herself for the first time, together with him...

...The 2B who wasn't real, that is.

"Why would being here be bad? She would be with you, wouldn't she?"

Maybe the real 2B doesn't want that. Maybe that distance she places between him and her is what's actually real.

[kingsroads]

"She would, but she wouldn't be happy." That's answer enough for Strange. He was always at loggerheads with Arabella with regards to his magic. Having her in a world surrounded by magic, full of fae, and full of people encouraging her husband to make stupidass decisions would probably be her worst nightmare.

"Granted, I imagine she isn't happy right now, what with how circumstances are back home. But at least in my world, she'll have a much better chance of being happy than she would be at a faerie carnival."

Especially a faerie carnival where it's part of her husband's job to run headfirst into danger. Honestly, it's a good thing Arabella didn't learn of that nightrunner bit. She worried about him in the peninsula, it would be a constant stream of worry here, seeing as the carnival keeps getting into so much fae bullshit.

"And if I may be honest? I think I'd prefer her to be happy though we're apart than miserable but we're together."

[dressedtothe]

He doesn't understand.

For the first time since they started their conversation, 9S raises his voice, actual emotion punctuating it, even if there's a strain of desperation threaded through his words. "But she'd be with you! Isn't that enough for both of you to be happy?"

He thought... he thought that human love is supposed to be stronger than any drug. 9S' shoulders slump, dejection and disappointment evident in his voice.

"...How can you be together in love and still be miserable?"

[kingsroads]

"There's more to love than simply being with someone." Are they seriously going to have a conversation about the ins and outs of romance, while walking away from impending doom? Sure as hell looks like it.

"For instance, imagine both Arabella and I were captured by the Prince. Yes, we would be together and yes, we would be in love, but I think it's safe to say, we both would absolutely hate it. Love doesn't completely remove the fact that someone can hate the circumstances they are in."

And, at least for them, Arabella would hate faerie and hate the carnival.

[dressedtothe]

Yes, because they're two lovesick fools.

"Wouldn't being together make the pain easier to bear? But..." he murmurs, gaze falling to the ground. "I guess you're right."

He just sounds tired. When he had talked about going shopping together with 2B after the war was over, he'd expected her to dismiss it as yet another bout of meaningless conjecture. Instead, she'd seemed... happy at the prospect. But even in that moment, she had also seemed so inexplicably sad when she turned away.

If what that fake said was true...
(And you can't trust fakes)
...then he knows why.

9S' hands ball into fists and he lets out a laugh, hollow and devoid of humour. "YoRHa like me aren't supposed to have emotions." Emotions are prohibited.. "I think I understand why, now."

[kingsroads]

Though 9S's words...for someone like Strange, who wears his heart on his sleeve, the idea of not having emotions downright terrifies him. A world where he couldn't feel anger or sadness would be good, but if that meant he couldn't be happy? He couldn't feel love? That sounded absolutely horrible.

There's a pause, as Strange mulls this over for a moment, before he asks.

"What do you think?" he can't help but ask. "YoRHa aren't supposed to have emotions, but you obviously do. Do you...I don't know, do you wish you didn't have them?"

[dressedtothe]

The question makes his chest ache with an unknown feeling, and 9S grips the front of his clothes, fingers digging into fabric. The portal back to the carnival is in sight, but there's still a fair distance to go.

"I... don't know."

He doesn't want to believe the words of that fake, but too much of what it said makes sense...
...especially the reason why his memory barely spans 3 months, even though he was rolled out over 2 years ago.

"It hurts, being alive."

It hurts, being alive and alone and without purpose.

[kingsroads]

How does one respond to this? Strange mulls it over for a little bit, giving 9S a tiny frown.

"It does," Strange simply responds. Because really, what else could he say? He can't deny that. "And yet we muddle through it anyway."

There's a pause, before Strange attempts to shift the subject slightly. "9S. What happened to you at the ball?"

Because something must have happened. The way he was so bitter about the illusions, this stand-offish attitude he has now, the way Strange had to explain that though people loved each other, it was sometimes better if they were apart...something had to have happened. And Strange wanted to know what.