lostcarnival | ⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That boy is here, and he doesn't look like he's having a good day. There are tears in his eyes as he rushes over and drops down next to Rita and Yuya, practically tripping in the grass. It's hard, having a panic over most of the people here, but that's basically what he's doing right now.

"Rita! Rita... Is she okay?" He looks at Yuya for answers, but then doesn't even wait for one. "It's okay, I can heal you!"

His wings spread out as if sheltering her wounded body, Steven leans in to plant a kiss on her cheek, because that's how things roll in Steven's universe. As he does, a magical effect will gently spread through her body, inspiring her wounds to begin healing. It won't get rid of them entirely, but as long as it can get her off of death's door, it will be an improvement.

Seeing Steven approach in a panic, Rita opens her mouth to mutter something at him, but the words don't quite come out. She has to stop and swallow and try to clear her throat before she can talk again.

...but before she can say what she was trying to, the kid goes right ahead and...

"Wh, what the... did you just kiss me!?" The next words she manages to articulate are ones of surprise instead.

But immediately, she can feel the warmth of magic working in her body, a familiar feeling, much like Estelle's power... Gingerly, and with a look of awe mixed with confusion, she traces her fingers over the puncture wound on her cheek. The skin tingles as it slowly starts to knit itself back together, growing new layers of tissue under the drying blood.

Yuya watched Steven approach with relief. He's seen what he can do before, briefly, and he's confident hell be able to help.

Rita, apparently, hasn't. He laughs despite himself, covering his mouth to try and choke it down before she finds reason to be mad about that, too.

"It's, uh, some kind of healing magic right?" He'll let Steven confirm that, he just knows it heals.

Steven pulls back a little, blushing furiously. Okay, Rita probably wouldn't like that, would she? Well, whatever! She needed healing, didn't she??

"Yes!" Steven says, agreeing with Yuya hastily. "It's... it's just how I heal people. My spit, or... or my tears need to touch you! That's all."

Sighing, Rita leans her head back down against the ground. It's actually a little easier to breathe than it was just moments ago...

"Right..." Healing tears? Spit? Sounds ridiculous, but like most ridiculous things surrounding the carnival and its people, it's probably true. The researcher in her would like to try examining that kind of magic in a controlled environment... but now really doesn't seem to be the time.

Looking away, she mutters, "Could've warned me before doing that..." But it looks like her voice is coming out clearer now, so she adds, "Well, whatever... Thanks, weirdo."

Yuya frowns a bit. He can't really blame Rita for being testy right now, but that's such poor gratitude after he helped her.

At least she sounds better. Yuya shifts back a bit, looking up at the sky, then to Steven, then to Rita as he considers something.

"We should really get you out of here. I bet I can carry you back to the carnival." She's smaller than him and she doesn't look heavy, so it's probably fine. If he wasn't exhausted, dazed, and bleeding out, but Yuya isn't good at considering all parts of the situation.

He just thinks Rita shouldn't be left lying on the ground.

Steven flops down onto the ground beside her, smiling a little. Apparently, it's good enough for him.

"I'm glad you're back," he says, sounding a little more at ease. Then he looks up at Yuya, and raises his hands. "Wait, wait! I can help." He sits up. "LION!"

Immediately, his giant pink lion comes leaping through the air, skidding to a halt next to them. Steven stands up, putting his hand on Lion's side.

"Wanna help me get her onto his back?"

Rita opens her mouth to protest Yuya claiming he can carry her back (she seems to recall messing up his shoulder pretty badly when she was a beast...), but suddenly there's a giant pink lion coming out of nowhere, and that shuts her up.

At first, she just stares between Steven and the lion... then, seemingly deciding there's no point in arguing with the absurdity of her observable reality, she shifts around, trying to get Yuya's jacket properly on herself. It's tricky, with a mostly-immobile arm and her wings getting in the way, but in the end, it's technically covering her, and that's all she can really ask for.

When she's done, she reaches to Yuya with a nod, apparently consenting to this plan and asking to be helped up.

Yuya leans back as Lion comes bounding up, but then he grins. He doesn't really know what's up with Steven's... pet? But honestly, a friendly pink lion is the best thing in his book.

"That's a good idea!" He turns to Rita, waiting for her consent before he reaches out. He looks pointedly at her face and not anywhere else on her body as he moves to get one arm around her back, just under he wings, and the other under her knees. He can just lift her up, turn, and deposit her onto Lion's back. Easy!

"I'm going to pick you up now, okay?" He offers her a reassuring smile, sucks in a deep breath, and then lifts. He pulls her up in one swift motion, rising as his grip tightens and he tries to ignore the pain in his arm--and then he's dizzy, suddenly, and stumbles backwards toward Lion.

Oh geez. Steven is quick to intercept Yuya's incoming mistake, scooping Rita out of his arms before he can drop her or fall over. As it turns out, Steven is incredibly strong.

"Whoops! Careful, Yuya... you look hurt, too." He deposits Rita onto Lion's back, makes sure she's got hold of his mane, and then turns back to Yuya. "Uh... I'm just gunna..."

He picks up Yuya with just as much ease, and puts him on top of Lion, too.

"There!"

Rita tries to hold on to Yuya, wincing when it looks like they're both going to fall...

And stares in wonder at Steven, her unlikely savior. Because seriously, what the hell? This twerp's really strong!

The puzzled look lingers on her face as she's seated atop the lion, gripping his mane with what strength she can muster. "I... guess..." Her voice fails, and she coughs, then tries again. "I guess this works..."

"Eh?" Yuya's head tips back as he does when Steven grabs Rita, confused when he arms are suddenly lighter. He blinks rapidly to bring himself back to focus just in time for Steven to pick up Yuya next, like he weighs nothing.

He grabs onto Lion, looking around to stare at Steven with his mouth agape in awe. "How strong are you?!"

He looks like a kid!

Steven laughs weakly.

"Pretty strong, I guess! It's because of my gem parts," he explains, like it's something he's had to explain before. He leans over to pet Lion's mane. "Lion... take them back to the carnival, okay? I have to help more people out here."

Lion grunts vaguely at the idea, standing up fully. A moment later, he roars - the sound of the noise forming into a series of rings that form a portal in front of them. Lion jumps through it, riders securely on his back. A few moments later they will be coming out the other side at the tree gate, and then back to the carnival grounds.

⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject