⇨ 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

[hippocarnival]

Yuya knows exactly what she's doing--he's got six cats and dogs after all. But he also knows very well how daemon's work, and he's not going to reach out to her. Celandine will decide if that's what she wants, but she looks too injured to be handled by anyone else anyway.

So instead he watches her run around. He doesn't look terribly injured, but there's definitely bandages bulging under his shirt, on his left shoulder and upper arm. His expression turns a touch sad, for a moment. "No, that's why he couldn't prove I helped break a rule. So he just took Gongenzaka and Yugo instead."

He purses his lips. Yeah, that still hurts to talk about. The next topic isn't any better, and he absently grips his arm just below his injury in response. "Uh, but I did get hurt during the hunt. Otherwise you know I would..."

[whattaprick]

Discussing what kind of company Yugo and Gongenzaka made in jail isn't the greatest topic, either. There aren't really a lot of great topics to pick from, right now. Gon and Yugo being captured and injured is, Lambert supposes, directly caused by them helping him, although they'd known the risk and chosen to involve themselves anyway. Still, it doesn't seem like Yuya's expecting an apology.

"That's why you stick to ranged weapons," Lambert says, practically. Now that he's looking Yuya over, he can see the injury. "How bad is it?"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya pouts. "I was."

It just didn't do much when Rita could out-fly and out-pace him. At Lambert's question he shrugs, but it's slow and deliberate not to disrupt his injury.

"I'm not going to die or anything. But there was a... lot of blood, and I'm not supposed to perform again until it heals." It's frustrating to not even have that distraction. He already knows he'll get restless.

[whattaprick]

"You could get Steven to kiss it better," Celandine chirps, shameless about pimping Steven out like a living healing dispenser. "That should make it faster, at least."

Because she can sympathize: being bedridden sucks. That's why they're out here, after all. Lambert looks up, glancing away down the track, then back down at Yuya.

"If you wanna keep talking, we should probably move," he suggests. Just so like, Yuya isn't squatting in the dirt like some kind of sad goblin child forever.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya, conversely, is very conscious about that. "Steven has enough with everyone else who's been hurt. I can wait."

He blinks back up at Lambert's suggestion. "Oh, okay." He rises back to his feet. "Where are we going?"

[whattaprick]

"There are a few benches down that way," Lambert nods. It's still a little ways off, but he's slower than he'd like right now, so by the time they get there he'll need the breather anyway.

Regardless of whether or Yuya gets up, though, he's moving already. Celandine, still closer to Yuya's eye level, will actually wait for him to stir before she speaks up.

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya springs up to his feet quickly, although as he walks beside Lambert he keeps his pace just as slow. He looks down at Celandine as she speaks, smiling.

"I was looking for you!" His gaze drifts up to Lambert as he says it. "You weren't in the medical tent, so it was kind of a lucky guess that you'd be out here... I wanted to see how you were doing."

[whattaprick]

"You were?" That seems to surprise both the witcher and his soul, though it doesn't make them quite stop in their tracks; Lambert blinks, glancing over at Yuya with a slight furrow between his brows before he smirks.

"Well, you found me. Don't tell me you were worried about me or something," he scoffs, like the very idea's a silly one. Sure, the hunt sucked ass, but he obviously survived it!

[hippocarnival]

Yuya snorts, pursing his lips. "Not saying it won't make it less true. I don't know how any of you can be calm about dying!"

He hopes, maybe, it's that it really isn't hurting his friends that badly... and not just because they're hiding how badly affected they really are. " Do they know what to do about the poison yet?"

[whattaprick]

"Are you kidding? Lambert's never calm about anything in his life!" Celandine laughs, a wheezy little noise that almost has her stumbling over her paws while Lambert glowers. Why does he even bother keeping her around when all she seems determined to do is embarrass him?

Ignoring her snickering, he answers Yuya's question instead: "They don't, but a few people have started working on something. I plan on helping as much as I can."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya raises a brow. Lambert isn't as dramatic about his environs as other people Yuya knows, so he's not sure if he's supposed to take that seriously or not.

"Yugo said the stone wasn't spreading... is it from the poison, too?" He doesnt wasn't to know what happens when magic soul person is left unchecked. If what happened to him could scar it, then wouldn't the poison?

He doesn't say this, however, because he remembers Lambert's last reaction to his soul being changed.

[whattaprick]

Good call, Yuya. Lambert's not as sore about that subject as he used to be, but it's still something he doesn't like talking about.

"It is," Celandine will confirm, with a wave of her tail. "Gon could sense it ... the poison saps at the soul. It weakens whoever's affected by it, makes them more susceptible to mental influence." Which explains her sorry state readily enough, but she doesn't seem overly worried.

"It's not fatal, though. In time, your soul could fight the effects off." She pauses. "Still, there's no point in letting it drag on like that."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya nods. He remembers Gongenzaka mentioning it in relation to Sans, a bit jumbled in the mess that was chasing after Lambert's plan to help him, but it was a detail he's stressed to Yuya as important.

That's probably what he used to brainwash Reira and the others. Briefly his hands clench into fists, but he jerks and loosens them when his claws accidentally dig into his skin. "That's good. He hurt people enough as it is."

At least it wasn't something they couldn't recover from, and move past. "Did we... save everyone in time, then?"

[whattaprick]

It depends what one would consider saving -- and who 'everyone' is. For the carnival's workers, the answer's an affirmative ... for those who've been stuck in the Prince's service for longer, well. Lambert doesn't know if they would consider it 'on time,' but it's probably better than 'never.'

"Close enough," is what he'll shrug and affirm. Maybe not as definite an answer as Yuya was hoping for, but it's an honest one. "Turned out better than some of the jobs I've done before, anyway."

Walking and talking, they've finally arrived at the bench he was directing them towards, and he sinks down onto it with a slow exhale of relief. His legs can't feel the strain of exertion -- but the rest of his body can. Moving around a lot of rock like this isn't exactly a small feat.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya sits down beside him, letting out a breath of relief for a different reason. He's just glad that they can all recover from what was done to them.

He does look briefly at Lambert's stone legs before he turns his attention up to the sky. For a moment, he's content in just the silence of recovery.

[whattaprick]

It's a silence that's going to persist for a few minutes, during which Lambert is going to take the time to rummage inside the sleeve of his kimono (hey, it's convenient enough) to produce a thoroughly crumpled cigarette pack with maybe two cigarettes left in it. He looks at it critically, then tucks it back.

Maybe he ought to save that for when he actually has something to celebrate. It's Celandine who'll speak up, from where she's hopped onto the bench between Lambert and Yuya, though she's staying pressed against Lambert's thigh.

"So," the daemon says, lazily. "Was any of this what you expected, when you asked the Ringmaster to kill Zarc?"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya's eyes widen and he pales immediately. At first he's frozen, unmoving, as Celandine's words sink in and squeeze his head and his heart numb.

Foster asked him that morning. Not precisely like that, but it was the same name. Same curiosity. Same... Reira.

Yuya shudders, and when he looks at Lambert, then Celandine, he's trying to look less affected by that than he actually is. It's fine. He probably doesn't know who Zarc is, right? ... Right?

"That's--" He sucks in a breath to steady himself. "That's not exactly what I asked for... what did she tell you?"

lmk if you need this tag tweaked

[whattaprick]

Well, now there's an interesting reaction. Daemon and witcher both glance curiously at Yuya, both pairs of golden eyes scrutinizing his face thoughtfully before looking away. Yuya may be able to keep his expression steady, but this close, a little concentration is all it takes to heart his heartbeat and breath accelerate.

The fact that she says 'she,' though, suggests Yuya's not as surprised as he could be -- and that he already knows who might have told them. Celandine considers a moment, but it won't be until Lambert gently lays a hand on her back that she answers.

"You mean Reira? She's not very good with explaining things for other people, so we didn't really understand. She did say you asked the Ringmaster to make a contract to take Zarc out, and that she ended up using her own to ask the Ringmaster to give him another chance." She yawns, flopping down on the bench with her body stretched out.

"Bit of a strange thing to ask for, we thought. Since he did try to destroy the world and all."

[hippocarnival]

Of course it was Reira. Who else would? Who else already had?

Yuya worries over his lip, drifting his gaze just enough that he doesn't have to look either of them in the eyes for a moment. "She... thinks he can change. And be forgiven." He shrugs mechanically, the gesture less from his uncertainty and more to deflect the depth of that question. He looks at Celandine, deciding to settle his attention on her instead.

"I asked the Ringmaster to save her, but I didn't really specify how to do that... she was able to take Zarc out of Reira, and it was her decision if she was going to kill him if Reira didn't sign her own contract."

He sighs heavily. He really wishes that had been a contract that the Ringmaster had denied.

[whattaprick]

"Some people can't change and shouldn't be forgiven," Lambert answers, flatly. There isn't any amusement in his tone; wherever he's pulling the bitterness behind that sentiment from, it's clearly very personal. His daemon bristles slightly at his tone, looking up at him uneasily, then looks back at Yuya.

"She said she took him into her soul," Celandine offers, looking perhaps understandably uneasy at the thought. She's tiny, after all, tinier even than Reira. The idea of taking anything into her is laughable. "I thought you said your world didn't have any magic."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya flinches. "I said there was a little magic," he mumbles, looking down at the ground. "It's not like you or Mr. Strange, where you can do magic. I don't really understand it, but people can't just do magic."

He reaches to scratch the back of his head, pulling against his hair as he does. "There's... spirits, and they can do things that are probably magic. 'Natural energy', but it's not normal." It's the best way Yuya has to explain it, because he doesn't consider himself a spiritual person and never looked that deeply into it before. It was just impossible to ignore what was going on, or explain it as anything else.

[whattaprick]

"What's Zarc, then?" Lambert cocks his head. "One of those spirits, or something else? Anything and anyone strong enough to almost destroy the world can't exactly be something you call 'normal,' can it?"

[hippocarnival]

"Zarc... is human." He's pretty sure that didn't change. "But he got power from them, I think. The spirits, because he can talk to them and most people can't."

Yuya shrugs helplessly. He realizes normal isn't the best term. Common, maybe. "But I don't really know how it works beyond that! I didn't even know it existed until recently."

Maybe it's just that he can't remember, either, but he wonders if he ever actually understood what the monsters were capable of, or if he just let them guide him because he heard what they wanted.

[whattaprick]

Sounds like Yuya's situation back home is more fucked up than Lambert realized. He shifts his weight on the bench, leaning back a little with a quiet exhale as he considers what Yuya's said so far.

"I didn't even know you were allowed to make a contract to mess with someone else's contract like that," he says at last, turning his head to look at Yuya and mustering a smirk before his expression grows serious again. "You think it's going to be a problem for the carnival? This whole ... whatever it is." Situation. Whatever.

It's interesting. And it gives him a few ideas of what he'd want to wish for himself, if he decides to renew it.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya's expression twists a little wryly. "I asked the Ringmaster to save her, but not to get rid of Zarc. So I guess what Reira asked for isn't against my contract at all."

It's definitely an example why specific phrasing matters in dealing with the fae, however. In retrospect, the way he delivered his contract was short sighted.

He falls quiet as he considers it, but then shakes his head. "No. The Ringmaster has him now, and Reira's contract means he'll be reborn as a baby so he can't do much until he grows up."