⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 178 - B1: Day 6
Where: The Carnival and sometimes on top of the Heart of Stone.
What: Now that the Prince is dead and gone, there's a lot left to sort out. As the remaining servants are liberated and those captured by the Prince are tended to, it's time for recovery and goodbyes.
Warnings: Nothing in particular.

HOME GROUND↴ At long last, it is over. The Prince is dead, and all of his stolen Names have been restored - all that's left to do is treat the wounds and move on. For the first day or two, the Ringmaster will be arranging passage for the servants that are left, all of which have remembered their names for the first time in years. The earth elemental that had been trapped and forced to serve as the Prince's manor, the Heart of Stone, is happy to help for the moment. It appreciates the Ringmaster's mercy, and is free after untold eons of imprisonment. Yet, there are plenty of aspects that are far from simple. There are still servants left mad and transformed into beasts, with no easy way to change them back. The Prince's spells outlive him, and those bearing his poison and his curses will have a difficult road ahead of them. Though most of the bestial servants have been rounded up, and a large number that had been reduced to unmoving statues returned, even the Ringmaster can't return them to normal so simply. The next week is for rest and for settling remaining affairs. If you want to bid farewell to any particular NPCs, or assure care is given where it's needed, now is the time to do it. ► A CURE: The Ringmaster will tell everyone simply - there is no simple way to undo another fae's magic. The Prince's powers were essentially on par with hers, which means that those who have been transformed to stone and those that were cursed into beasts and driven insane are not something she can trivially fix. It will take the work of the carnival and a couple weeks of treatment to shed the curse of stone, and the maddened servants are an entirely separate matter. She will do what she can, but for the most part she is arranging for the Prince's servants to be cared for elsewhere. At least for now, the Ringmaster will be animating the stone portions of people's bodies with magic, though those portions will still be a bit clumsy and numb feeling. ► THE NEW HEARTSTONE: In the absence of the prince, the Heart of Stone will be taking over the remains of the Prince's realm and preventing it from collapsing into void. As it turns out, the manor had been an earth elemental all along - a form of Wyld Fae almost on par to the Prince and Ringmaster themselves. How the Heart of Stone was enslaved is a long story presumably, but the Ringmaster considers it to be a sign of the Prince's own depravity. The Heart will be allowing visitors for the first couple days of this period through the portal, but keep in mind you are essentially just walking around on its body. At least the realm has a floor, now, instead an endless abyss surrounding it.

Comments

OPEN - Bedrest, Trailer #19

[anti_nonsense]

As much as Rita tries to be active after returning to the carnival, there's no getting around the need for recovery, and she ends up spending a lot of her time resting. While many of the injured and affected may be staying in the medical tent, Rita insisted on returning to her trailer. Her bed, the top bunk, isn't all that easy for her to access right now, so she spends her time lying on the couch with a pillow and blanket.

Her blastia is conspicuously missing from her neck, and in its place is dark bruising in the shape of fingers around her throat. A square bandage sits on her left cheek and red spots color her eyes.

She drifts in and out of sleep at odd hours of the day, but she seems to respond, at least, to those who knock... and doesn't really have the energy to drive away any who let themselves in. In fact, if they come with food, books, or even just conversation, she might even be grateful for their visits... even if she doesn't want to say so.

[kingsroads]

The great thing about trailers is that even when they're built by magic, there's still bits and pieces that aren't perfectly flush. In this case? The doorway. And Strange has decided that well, might as well get better at being smoke while checking up on some others. As such, there's a plume of dark purple smoke entering Rita's trailer though the crack between the door and the door frame. The act of entering is silent but the oddly sweet scent might get Rita's attention if the literal smoke doesn't.

A few seconds later, when there's a good amount of smoke clustered near the door and Rita's probably seriously considering getting off the couch or setting it on fire, the smoke floats together and then turns into a fully clothed and way too smug looking Jonathan Strange, standing right next to the door, a few feet away from Rita. And thus, poor Rita gets to deal with even more bullshit.

Strange looks surprisingly well. Of course, it helps that his loose-fitting long sleeved shirt and slacks are covering up most of his bruises and scrapes from the Hunt. He also looks a bit too pleased at himself that he managed to work his smoke form that well. That is, until he looks at Rita and that smug expression turns to a worried one. Ah. She looks terrible.

"I was wondering why you weren't at the medical tent," he explains, with a frown, as he walks towards her.

[anti_nonsense]

It's not until a large volume of smoke has already filtered into the room that Rita awakens to the smell. Alarmed, she scrambles to sit up. Her left arm shoots out to conjure a fireball just as Strange materializes before her.

When she sees who it is, she clenches her hand into a fist, extinguishing the fireball.

"...what the h..." she starts to sputter, but her voice cuts out. She coughs, clearing her throat, then snaps at him, "Haven't you heard of doors!?"

[kingsroads]

Strange, firmly of the opinion that doors are for chumps, rolls his eyes at Rita's complaining. Really, what was it with everyone in the carnival and their insistence that Strange use a less practical method of traveling about than his smoke or mirrors? It's like they were trying to inconvenience him. How dull!

"I don't see any reason to use them," Strange simply responds, as he grabs a chair from the table. "Mirrors are still the easiest, of course, but I've found that smoke has it's benefits." Pulling it up towards the couch, he sits on that chair, crossing his legs as he gets a better look at Rita.

"How do you feel?" Cutting directly to the chase, it seems.

[anti_nonsense]

"You use them because next time you pull a stunt like that, I'm throwing that fireball," Rita informs him through gritted teeth. But she's not in the best condition for getting worked up and throwing threats around, so she sinks back into the couch with an exasperated sigh.

"I've been better," she grumbles in response to his question, her voice still raspy, but audible. "I'd say I've been worse, too, but I've never actually been dead before." As far as physical health goes, Rita's pretty sure that counts as rock bottom.

[kingsroads]

"Dead only counts if you stay that way." At least in Strange's mind, being dead certainly doesn't count as rock bottom. "Besides, you were revived quickly enough that it should negate most of the problems."

And, most importantly in Strange's mind, she came back Rita. When he raised the dead in the peninsula, when he brought those Neapolitans back to life, they came back wrong: shambling corpses speaking the languages of Hell. Rita still seemed to be herself.

[anti_nonsense]

"Hope so," Rita mumbles. What he's saying is actually kind of encouraging, though. It just doesn't count? It's stupidly simplistic, but... Rita wouldn't mind thinking about it that way. She still doesn't know for sure if being killed and revived is going to have any long-term effects on her, but she can try to be optimistic.

"Since you're here..." Rita shifts around, swinging her legs out over the couch and carefully sitting up. She pulls an empty glass off a nearby counter, just in reach of her arm, and holds it out to Strange. "Mind filling this up for me?"

She means with water, obviously, but that's also the only option there is, as there are no other beverages in the trailer.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya absolutely knocks, because that's the polite thing to do and he's not like some carnival members who completely disregard things like 'privacy'.

It's long enough he's more physically aware, and he hopes Rita is too... it's hard to have a conversation when one of them just came back to life and the other's bleeding out, but when he finds out she's well enough she was discharged to her trailer he comes visiting immediately.

"Rita? It's Yuya, can I come in?"

[anti_nonsense]

Yuya's timing is fairly lucky, as Rita happens to be awake right now. She sits with her legs stretched out over the couch, a couple pillows stacked behind her to allow her to sit upright with a book in her lap. In place of her usual tunic is a casual tank top and shorts. An empty glass sits on a counter next to the couch, within arm's reach of Rita.

In answer to Yuya, she clears her throat and calls out, "Yeah. Come in."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya does in fact let himself in, closing the door right behind him. He's dressed in his Portland clothes, a button up shirt and slacks he's already getting dirty, with his pendulum still hanging in view, and the long sleeves largely hide his bandages except for the bulging of the gauze.

He smiles when he sees her, making a beeline for the couch. "Hey! How are you feeling? Better?"

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's gaze briefly flicks to where she knows Yuya's injuries are, but then she nods. "Yeah. Better." She closes the book and tucks it away. It has some long, academic-sounding title but the words particle metaphysics can be seen at a glance on the cover.

She elaborates, because Rita can't resist an opportunity to complain. "The venom's annoying as hell, and I'm bored out of my mind hanging around here all day, but my injuries should be fully healed before long."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya is not even going to ask about particle metaphysics.

He puts his hands on his hips as he stops in front of the couch. "I'm glad." He doesn't say he was worried, but he was. It's a relief to see her so aware, if ill. He can get being bored about bedrest, though he thinks she should stay put.

He might have just the thing to placate her, however. "I can show you how duel monsters works if you want."

[anti_nonsense]

"That card game? Hmm..."

As always, Rita tries not to look too eager... but yes, she is really bored, and it is an activity that won't be too strenuous while she's in this condition...

"I guess this is a good time for it." She nods to the table across from her, then rises to her feet to move over there. Fortunately, in this cramped trailer, it's only about two steps away.

[spaghettimonster]

A couple hours after talking things out with Sans, and taking a brief nap himself, Papyrus sets himself on a very important errand. Bringing food and juice, a lightweight book for reading entertainment, and the company of himself... to checking on the people who got kidnapped. Particularly, the ones who got kidnapped during the rooftop adventure; Joker, and Rita.

He knocks gently on the trailer door, since - while he'd like to be sure they're recovering, and make amends as needed - this isn't nearly urgent enough to go waking people up. And in a carefully positive voice he calls out, "Hello? I heard Rita is back in here?"

[anti_nonsense]

Rita happens to be awake right now, sort of. She's lying on the couch in her Alolan tank top and shorts, a blanket tangled around her waist and legs. A couple of books lie on the floor next to her, the one on top titled Essentials of Particle Metaphysics. She was sleeping until not long ago, but has merely been lying awake since then. The venom makes it difficult to focus on anything for long, but she's already slept far more than she needs.

In a way, the knock at the door is a welcome interruption to the dull silence of the trailer. Rita tries to answer right away, but her throat doesn't cooperate, and her voice comes out muted. She coughs, then tries again. "Yeah... I'm here. Come in." She'll slowly try to sit up on the couch in the meantime, pushing the blanket away and rubbing at her eyes.

[spaghettimonster]

If it weren't for having a job to do, he could stay out here all day... but he does have work. And the first seconds that pass silently are enough for him to wonder if she's elsewhere or asleep after all. He's just wondering whether to knock a second time, or return rather a little while later, when he hears a voice faintly replying.

"Okay! I'm coming in," and he swings the door open, squinting as his sight adapts to the inside dim. "I... came by to check on you! And, visit, and maybe even hang out. But that last part is totally and completely up to you."

[anti_nonsense]

Rita doesn't look too surprised to see Papyrus, even though this is the first time he's visited her here. They might have only met a couple times before, but his voice is distinct enough to be recognized before she sees his bony face.

"Hang out, with you? I don't know about..." Rita looks doubtful, and still a little out of it, but when she thinks about it... she's not so sure she wants to drive him away and go back to sitting alone, so...

"Maybe for a little while." He did try to save her life. She can be a little civil. Besides, it looks like he might have brought stuff for her. She's kind of interested.

[spaghettimonster]

"It's your call!" Papyrus emphasizes, stepping up and into the trailer. He considers the lukewarm greeting, the reason he's here at all, and adds, "And you can hang up the hang out, any time."

With that reminder in the air, he puts a wooden box down on the floor by his feet and pries at its lid. Smells of breakfasty foods waft out, filling the space... But before he does anything with the food, he rustles at a plastic bag in there, and pulls out a book.

"I brought things to facilitate any hanging out we do! And any recuperation you're stuck doing, whether you send me away or not. Like this copy of... 'Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hide.' I didn't return it to the library," he admits, in a guilty whisper. Normally he'd never do such a thing as steal a book, but... what can you do when the owner is eaten and the library it resided in no longer exists?

[anti_nonsense]

Well, to give the bonehead credit... that food smells really good right now.

Detecting the guilt in his voice, Rita scoffs. "Serves him right. Wish we'd snagged his whole collection while we were at it." Come to think of it... are the books still there, with the earth elemental? Did they fall into the void surrounding the realm? Rita's not sure how that works. She'd be running out to search if there were any magic books among them, but last she checked there weren't, so it's probably not worth the effort...

She gives a narrow-eyed glance at the book in his hands. "Jekyll and Hyde... Are those the authors' names?" Rita, unsurprisingly, is completely unfamiliar with the book.

[hurtcomfort]

And thus it's two for two on 'people who know about privacy' versus 'people who don't use doors.' Because Cole just suddenly appears inside Rita's trailer, sitting cross-legged on top of her table.

"He wanted something to happen. Anxious yet amused. I think he liked the dragon, though it was hard to tell. I can't see them as easily as others."

Now that the report's out of the way (because that's what the cryptic statement was, a report on the Prince), Cole reaches into his pocket to pull out Rita's blastia. Still sitting on the table, he offers it to her. "I have your necklace. Are you a witcher too?"

[anti_nonsense]

Lying on the couch only half-awake, the last thing Rita expected was for someone to just appear in the trailer with her. As soon as Cole starts talking, she's scrambling, kicking off her blanket, sitting up and scooching away and raising a hand to cast a spell to fend off the intruder...

But she soon recognizes the stupid hat, and the uniquely peculiar nonsense spilling out of his mouth...

Cole? He was real? Rita wasn't sure.

The sight of her blastia is enough to make her forget everything else in an instant. "The blastia!" she gasps. "You found her!?" Eagerly, Rita leans out from the couch and snatches it, then pulls it close to her chest, embracing it dearly. Her eyes even well up with tears. She really thought she lost her...

It takes a few seconds for Cole's question to register, and she glances back up at him. "...What?" Did he just ask if she's a witcher? She must have heard wrong.

[hurtcomfort]

"She missed you as well," Cole murmurs, apparently unaware of the fact that the blastia is a rock and rocks don't have feelings. Rita thinks they do. That's good enough for Cole.

And he just watches, pleased that Rita's happy. Good. This is good.

Though, he blinks in confusion at Rita's question. Wasn't it obvious? Apparently not. He should better explain. "You have a special necklace and people look at you funny. That makes you a witcher, as it does Lambert, as it does me."

[anti_nonsense]

She did? Cole can perceive people's feelings... can he sense the blastia's feelings, too? For a moment, Rita dares to hope.

However, the possibility that Cole has any idea what he's talking about is quickly called into question when he elaborates on that question.

"That's... not what that..." she begins, slowly, but her temper is quicker, and she abruptly changes tune. "--Hey!! What do you mean, people look at me funny!? What kind of..." Rita starts yelling, but it hurts her throat, and soon her voice cracks and fails and leaves her coughing and massaging her throat.

[hurtcomfort]

"It's not a bad thing," Cole explains, looking over at Rita. He watches her cough for a moment before he gets up, grabs the empty glass that's closest to him and walks over towards the sink. Rita needs water. She's going to get water.

"It simply is. They look at me funny too."

[anti_nonsense]

"Well, yeah, because you appear out of nowhere and talk crazy to them..." Rita continues massaging her throat with her fingers. Water does sound pretty good right now.

Seriously, though. When he said they look at her funny, was he talking about people at the carnival? Or did he pull that from her memories, of how people in Aspio treated her...? That's the problem with having a mindreader around who doesn't communicate like a normal person.

She sighs, using her other hand to trace a finger around the red-jeweled core of her blastia. "The two of us aren't witchers. That's something different. The word you're looking for is freaks." It's a word she uses liberally to insult others a lot, but it's also one that she kind of sort of realizes applies to Rita herself... sometimes. In a way.