lostcarnival | ⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

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⇨ 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.

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Ah- [Fortunately, Reira had a feeling someone was watching. ...Papyrus isn't really a quiet 'feeler', emotionally speaking. She is slightly surprised when he suddenly starts applauding however, and rather bashfully stares in turn.] Um..!!

...t...thanks....

[SHE'S NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THIS...]

[Smile and wave, with whatever level of enthusiasm she likes! If it turns out to be none at all, well, Papyrus is nothing if not a master of mustering enthusiasm from very little encouragement.]

You're very welcome... for a couple true words!

[He shoots her a thumbs up, and pointedly looks up and down the length of the course. Those soot marks signaling firey bursts have shot out before... the areas where segments can go in disorienting, rapid motion... Papyrus cusps hands to cheekbones, and announces in all sincerity:]

Wow, they really didn't make this thing easy, did that? I'm so excited!

Um! [It's few words, but believe her, she's very much feeling the excited encouragment. It makes her feel...a bit more capable for this, actually, and she nods furiously.] Y-yeah..! A lot of things are too tall for me, even, so...

[So hold on while she makes a pass through one section of this...And...]

H-p-!

....have you tried it..?

Not yet! I didn't know about it. [A bit of a lie, that; he cleans all around the area, and has seen all the various riggings at some point or another.]

Well, no I knew of it. It just hardly seemed a challenge for me! [And he grins, a little boastful but mostly honest.

Being lightweight and tall and flexible... He's a skeleton in very good shape.] But! I hadn't considered! The possibilities of a handicap! Then it could be a proper challenge.

[That's not a bit of a lie, Papyrus, that's a Big lie. But regardless.] It's not one at all..? ...Even when it's on 'Death March'?

[Guess what mode she turned on and looked at from afar.

And immediately turned off, without even trying.

That one. She continues on and up the Apex while she waits for an answer, more hopping than running thanks to the gaps of steps.] What kind of handicap? [She asks alongside that, keeping her attention on the course.] Is it like when someone says they'll do something with their eyes closed?

[no don't encourage that]

[It's a medium lie at most, not a genuine Big lie - not one that he admits is a lie. Cleaning at night and making assumptions, he thought it was all a bunch of boring static stuff. But now, in the sunlight, with him actually bothering to look at it closely? The mechanisms reveal themselves.]

Something like that! But I won't be closing my eyes. More like... adding weights to myself?

More importantly, that 'Death march' you mention. I'm not familiar with it! It sounds... [Like Undyne-style training. Like... Lambert-style training, too? Marching until near dead of exhaustion...] Ideal! Where does it go when it's on Death March?

It's a lot of lasers! [She answers, pausing at the bottom of the Final Terrace. It's a bit easy to take a breather in this particular spot, she finds.] ...And a lot more fire... ...I didn't go on it though, because it's already sort of hard for one of my duel monsters to help with this one....

....also, even though I think some Action Cards could help, I still wouldn't know where the right ones are on the 'field'...

[There might be one near Papyrus, actually-'Crossover' sort of scatters them everywhere. Regardless! She must get this hill over with...

Which means running up, jumping off in a 'dive', and..!

Rolling! ....and then sort of laying flat on her back for a moment because she didn't quite do the roll right. She doesn't look hurt at least, though?]

[Papyrus follows along on foot, the better to see her coming to a stop. No blood everywhere, which is a very important sign of injury with a lot of other people, he's discovered. But it's strange for her to just lay there, without continuing to push the time limit, unless...]

Oho! So this is the end. [He grins, and full of a sense of his own cleverness, adds] You were on a roll there!

But, what were those Cards you mentioned?

[Are they visible on the course...? Are they even shaped like cards? Though, if she didn't know where they were, maybe they're hidden after all.]

[THEY SURE ARE! Scattered randomly, there are brown backed cards with a large 'A' on them. Flipped over, they'll be titled such things as 'Miracle' or 'Evasion', with simple images related to it, and descriptions on...some sort of card game instruction.

Reira for her part is momentarily distracted by the pun, as she somehow isn't used to those yet.] .... [She sits up.] Ah.... ...But I didn't roll right..!! I even did exactly what I saw other people roll like, and...

[She looks around, spotting a card and moving toward it so she can show Papyrus, in any case.] It's one of these-I made a 'field' with my duel disk, [She explains, the device in question still on her left arm,] So it made a bunch of these everywhere.

They do things if I put them in the disk.

[Papyrus can only shrug at the critique of her own rolling; being bare bones, as he is, changes the logistics of some bodily movements. Rolling is definitely among them; no shoulder cushions, no butt, and so on. Reira would be best asking another fleshy person.

Instead he nods slowly at the sight of the card, at the shapes of similar color around them. It's a little strange, to use cards for things... but he vaguely remembers human magic working through various mediums, like wands and crystals. Why not cards?]

Actiony things, as they're action cards?

Sort of! [SORT OF???]

They're called action cards because you have to find them.... ...Other cards go in your deck, and you use them to duel. [She points to her disk, and after turning it off-therefore scattering the field, and its cards, into light-pulls the deck out]

...See? ....This is my duel monsters deck. It has spells, and traps, and monsters.

Acting to find them, on the field... of battle? Wait.

[Papyrus startles as the cards around the field flare out and vanish, and stares at the remaining deck askance.]

There are monsters... in your cards?

[After all that shouting about gems in mirrors for thousands of years... That's an odd prospect.]

[She shakes her head.] .....They are the cards. [Very different.]

....Normally, they can't have bodies, but.... ....Solid vision gives them bodies, and then they can have fun fights-ones that are just to make a show, so people can smile, not ones where people get hurt, [she adds, realizing that 'fight' might need a bit of....clarification.]

....Even without bodies though, they're still here, [She adds, pulling out an odd looking 'eye' card.] I can feel their feelings, even right now.

[Fun, friendly fights, where the object is more about showing off than hurting anybody... That sounds familiar. So familiar that his mounting concern makes way for relief.]

Oh! They're just oddly shaped monsters. What a difficult life, being cards...

[Papyrus crouches down a little to get closer to the card, doing his best to make eye contact despite the general eye shortage between them, and waves.]

Hello there!

Yeah!

[.....................] ...........C/C One-Eyed Past Eye can't talk, but... [Well none of the duel monsters ever really talk except to the few who can actually comprehend them, but anyway-]

...I could turn my duel disk back on and summon them, so you can meet them?

[Life as cards really is difficult, imagine not being able to shout at passersby... But, if that's their life, they must be used to it? At least they can talk through fighting, if they really want to.]

Well... I wouldn't want to interrupt meeting you. [That'd be rude! He came over to say hi and compliment, before taking his own spin at the obstacle course.

But refusing the offer is also rude... A conundrum. There's only one solution:] But, if you want to introduce us, that's fine too. Do as you think is best! [Shove the choice on the striped-shirt child.]

[CHOICES?! OHHHHH NOOOOO-

Well, it is probably weird to meet a monster that can't talk, especially since it's not a duel. What if the cards end up bored!] Hmnn...maybe....

...I can probably wait until a duel. Then you can meet more of them, all at the same time. [Perfect!] .....Aren't you the one from the radio though? [Speaking of meeting people and all.]

[It would be nearly as one-sided a conversation as talking to the cards themselves, unless they use some verbose body language. So waiting is fine.]

The classic nightly novel... reading? Wait, no, narration! [There we go, alliterative as can be.] That's me! Papyrus.

....I didn't know you were doing readings. [That's because you were in a Hole, Reira.]

...I meant...after I guess? ...We talked about things, like presents for people.

[She. Should probably give a name though.] UM! I'm Reira..! ...so....I guess now we actually know who we are.

[Small as she is, she probably has an early bed time... He read back in the manor, sure enough, but he's still going now. But it's just an hour or two as many of the sleep-inclined people head to bed, instead of all night long.]

I already knew who I was... But you're right! I didn't remember who you are. You're the one... who I meant to give this to!

[Out of thin air, or maybe just a magical pocket, Papyrus pulls out: a bone with a fancy ribbone tied around its center.

The edges of the ribbon look like the ends of even tinier bones.]

[She's about to say that's not what she meant at all! But then he's talking about giving her...something?

....And oh. Oh. Reira gasps a little as the bone appears, looking at the ribbone, the ribbon...]

....it's for me..? [She finds herself asking, even though he just told her it was. It's just a very strange experience, getting a. Present. Her hands are shaking a little as she reaches for it, as if afraid she'll break it.]

That it is! The earlier a demonstration, the more effective it is.

[He presents it to her, held before him where she can easily get ahold of it.

It's a particularly sturdy, well-formed bone. One he put time and care into making. It won't be disappearing any time soon... so long as Papyrus is alive.]

And this is an anytime sort of friendliness. It can't even be cheating, unless... somehow you get in a 'best bone' competition? [Those might be things?]

[.....It's strange. When she received her bird from Foster after all, it was so different from this-that was something she'd shown interest in, something she liked already, that he'd decided to let her keep.

She didn't know what was coming, this time, she didn't know something was coming at all, and-] ....It's nice, [she eventually says, smiling and holding it close.] Umn....

...Why would it be cheating ever, though? If I was in a contest, I'd have to make something myself, right?

Would it? [He's surprised and genuinely confused by the idea.] Hmmm... I guess so!

Because, why would you have a competition for collected bones, that gives an unfair advantage to dogs. But bone-creating gives the advantage to skeletons...

[Bone competitions all around seem a little too complicated to be viable. But something about the idea just seemed sensible. Aren't most people feeling the need to just... collect things, keeping the best ones around to admire? Not that Papyrus has started thinking of it in these words, but there's some good things in the world to hoard.]

Mnnnhhh.... [....Dogs in a lot of monster cards do seem preoccupied by eating bones, she supposes. But now that just brings even more questions to mind.] ....If all skeletons can make bones.... ....That definitely makes it easier for a skeleton, then..!

...but.... ....What about a skeleton dog?

[She may be getting side tracked.] ....What do you make bones for, anyway..?

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