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

"I got you caught too. I shouldn't... I messed up, and. We only made it out, 'cause they saved everyone. Not because of me..." He honestly isn't trying to be so hard on himself, but it's really hard. He's too sick to even try not dwelling in guilt, and even though things are okay now... It was too close of a call. Way too close of a call... And until now, he couldn't even express it, not with everyone else around. With Lauren it's safe.

"We made the plan together. It's just as much my fault it failed as it is yours." Normally he'd be upset at himself for the failure too, but he can't be when Susan is like this. It had been hard for him to, to stay hopeful towards the end of it. He really was willing to breaks his own legs if it meant they could escape, but in the end they were saved by everyone else. It wasn't ideal, but they were both there.

"We are alive Susie. We are okay."

He knows it's true. He knows it isn't just his burden to bear, and that Lauren's right; things are okay now, they're okay now, even if it's hard and even if they still have to recover and get back to normal.

He finally nods in response, even as he still can't quite keep himself from crying against his brother. Fluff apparently decides she needs to help more than just by purring, and starts to lick at the boy's hair, a nice little bath to try and help take care of her sorcerer.

"We're okay... You're okay, and I'm okay."

They were both hurt. They both had the poison running through them, stone limbs, and injuries from the hunt. There were a lot of people who still needed healing and help. Nobody expected any of the imprisoned to be fine after one days rest. Still, rest would help.

He tucks the blanket around them both before his hand finds his brothers. He squeezes Susan's hand tightly for a moment before letting it go again. He won't tell Susan he's strong again for surviving, sure that Susan will disagree, but to Lauren it was true.

"I'm proud of you."

He doesn't really have a response for that, and so he stays silent at first as Lauren squeezes his hand. He does want Lauren to be proud of him, even if he's not quite sure in this instance why he would be. But still, what matters now is getting some real sleep and trying to get better.

He does close his eyes to try to sleep, but it's only after a few moments that he realizes something's missing and he squirms around to pull his arm back out from the blanket, looking at his bare wrist in alarm.

"Mommy's bracelet..."

He is confused for only a second before looking at Susan's wrist and seeing the missing heirloom. Immediately he's worried, he wants to go find it. At the same time he knows that he and Susan both need rest.

"One of the former servants must have it."

He frowns, still concerned, and he absently rubs at his wrist with his other hand. It feels weird to not wear it, he rarely even takes it off to wash or anything.

Still, though, if Lauren isn't concerned...

"Then, we can get it back." It isn't lost forever.

He nods, pushing his own concern aside as well. He could find it tomorrow with a spell, after healing the last of Susan's wounds. His to-do list for tomorrow was already growing longer.

"Nana would be proud of you too."

The words surprise him, since they don't talk about their parents too often. But still he's happy to hear them, and he actually smiles a little as he relaxes again, hugging Lauren.

"You think so?"

He smiles back. "I know so. She always wanted to help others when she could."

"She did?" He honestly doesn't remember her enough to know, and right now... Right now hearing stories about her until he dozes off sounds nice.

He shrugs, smiling still.

"It was mostly just small things, like giving someone food when their lunch fell in the mud or helping them look for something they lost. Even with stuff like that she wanted to help."

"She must have been really nice..." He barely remembers her, but what he does remember is that she was kind; he remembers her making him happy and feel safe.

"She was." he murmurs, trailing off as he thinks of her. There's so much about her that he remembers, and so much that he doesn't. "Father was too. He wasn't as upfront about it, but he was always there when you needed him. Whenever I was with him I felt like nothing bad was going to happen."

He remembers their father even less than he does their mother, and so he doesn't have anything to add. Still, though, he snuggles up close to Lauren, happy to listen. He only wishes he could picture better what Lauren is talking about, but it's hard without remembering what they look like.

Lauren wraps an arm around his brother as he snuggles close. It's been years since they passed, and still he can't talk about them without getting a little emotional. He smiles at how pathetic it feels.

"So I know, they would be very proud of you."

"Then... They'd probably be proud of you, too." It's quiet, as he's already dozing again, but still. He doesn't see how they couldn't be; after all, Lauren is the one who's always looking out for him and protecting him.

He wasn't expecting that response and for a moment it throws him. Although he wasn't being dishonest, he was just trying to say things that he knew would make Susan feel better. For Susan to do the same in return, well, he didn't know how to react to that. He's happy though. He wonders if it's true, if they would be proud of him. After a moments he answers. "Thanks."

But by then perhaps Susan is already asleep.

⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

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