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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[Yuya smiles at that. Zarc would be gone next time, and they'd know the truth, and Yuya's shown some of Academia already how much better peace is... so when Strange says that, it doesn't feel so hollow. They'd have a better chance next time.]

Thanks. [He folds his arms back over his knees. He shifts, thoughtful and a moment.] Um... but the carnival's a little scarier now, because I can't deal with the fae the way we dealt with Academia. It's like I'm back at square one.

That's what your magic lessons will be for, [ Strange explains, with a little smile. Because of course magic will solve any fae problems, magic solves all of the problems. Yuya may be back at square one but at least in Strange's mind, he's got the tools to go beyond that. ]

And if your magic won't be able to solve it, then we'll combine it with mine and Childermass's and all the other magicians of the carnival until we come up with a solution.

[ what an amazingly overconfident statement from an amazingly overconfident man. ]

[It's incredibly overconfident, but does Yuya know better? ... Well, he might get an idea the next day when Strange has a huge argument with the gems over it, but for now it inspires Yuya and he grins wide.]

Yeah! I've never really had a private tutor before, how does that work?

[Is it just like a classroom except with one student? Strange did say he was going to create a lesson plan.]

[ It's not his fault the gems are dumb. As for how it works... ]

Now that everything's gone back to normal, we should come up with a regular meeting time and place. I will assign readings, of course, though not as many as my mentor assigned me. I'm more a fan of practical experience to begin with. [ This is partly because Strange only has a handful of books to begin with, partly because all of Strange's really impressive magic he did without the aid of books. ]

What sort of magic do you wish to learn in the first place? Specific spells or effects, for instance.

[Yuya nods, his hands gripping his arms more tightly for a moment.] Well, I won't be performing for a while so I can meet you whenever.

[There's a slight smile despite it. But his expression turns more thoughtful and serious as he considers what Gongenzaka told him.] I don't know a lot about what magic there is... but I don't want to learn magic that's about hurting people. This is about protecting my friends and keeping them safe, and I don't really like fighting.

[Is protection magic a thing?] Steven can make magic bubble shields. Maybe something like that?

Edited (SORRY I DECIDED I DIDN'T LIKE THAT TAG) 2017-11-16 04:46 (UTC)

My Portland self could do something like that, though I can't do it anymore. I still vaguely remember the theory so perhaps if we tweak the magic a little bit, it might be more sympathetic to you...

[ Strange trails off a bit, frowning slightly, lost in thought for a moment. ]

Most of my reflection magic could work for protection. Traveling through the mirrors, scrying, talking via reflection, things like that. At the very least, it's not fighting.

[Reflection magic as protection? It's Strange's magic he's actually the most familiar with, luckily, so it's fairly easy to imagine.]

... I don't think they'd let me push them through a mirror when there's danger. [Actually, he knows they won't. That could be a problem.] Uh, not that I wouldn't learn it if you're going to teach me.

That's why you don't tell them you're pushing them through the mirror!

[ Strange, no. ]

[Yuya looks at him incredulously.] Have you seen Gongenzaka? There's no way that's going to work!

[There's not enough training in the world to give Yuya the strength to force Gon to step through a mirror.

He might remember that for Yuzu, however.]

I'm certain we can find a way to make the reflection work with puddles as well. Just trick him into standing in one, cast the spell, and let the magic do the rest!

[The other problem with this plan is that would just piss Gongenzaka off, when Yuya just told him he wasn't going to dive straight for the self-sacrificing solution.

Well, he doesn't have to dampen Strange's enthusiasm with that part.] But I can still learn other protective magic, right? Is it better if we start with magic you already know?

Of course, [ Strange responds, with a nod. ] I can try to teach you the barrier spell I knew in Portland. My magic might be too different for it to work but you've already picked up one spell from there, so that's already a point in your favor.

[ Yuya's magic most likely will be a hodge-podge of magic techniques as is. But if he already knows that warding spell, perhaps that means his magic was already slightly attuned to Portland and that type of spellcasting. ]

As for something that I already know and know I can teach, a simple spell of fog might serve as protection. Or, if you want, we could attempt to find ways that my magic involving the earth and rocks could be used for protection and focus your efforts on that. An earthen shield, perhaps?

[That's a lot of options, and Yuya has to actually stop and think them over. He does remember the barrier spell from Portland, if he can make it big enough, that one might be perfect.

But it might also be harder to teach. He presses his fingers too his lips, face scrunching up thoughtfully.]

I want to learn that barrier spell if you remember how to do it. How fast can you make rock turn into a shield?

I do remember how, [ Strange explained. For him, magic came as easy to him as music. Something like the Portland magic, especially Portland magic that he was still able to access when he was himself...it was like being physically unable to play an instrument, but still knowing the form and techniques.

Of course, Strange is a massively overconfident arrogant jerk anyway so of course he thinks he could do it. But as for the rock spell, ]

And with regards to the earth magic, I believe I can make it fast enough to stop a punch, but not a bullet.

[Good thing they basically never get shot at.]

Then I want to learn that, too. When do we start? [He perks up with enthusiasm. He's ready to start now, but he understands if Strange needs time to prepare.]

I don't mind starting now if you wish.

[ it is the middle of the night and they're sitting next to a lake, perfect time to start learning magic. ]

We can at least get some of the basic theory out of the way before I load you up with books and write out a plan of action.

[ because he is 100% gonna write out that lesson plan, partly because it'll be useful, partly because the lesson plan that Strange received from Norrell was TOO DAMN LONG and even when his mentor's literally in another realm, Strange wants to show him up in stupidly petty ways. ]

Okay! [Yuya turns around so he's sitting to face Strange, putting his hands on his knees. If he can't sleep he might as well start on training to be a stronger friend. Now that he knows some spells to go for, he's excited.] So what's the basic theory?

With my English magic, most of my spells involve calling upon the relationship between the magician and whatever I wish my magic to act upon. In Portland, I called upon the magic itself.

[ And then, Strange starts an explanation, yammering on about his interpretation of basic magical theory. Both magics placed an emphasis on the ritual: asking the elements to do something, reciting a formula or a sequence of words, and so on, though they could be worked down to just a thought or a hand gesture. It might be a bit of a challenge as thanks to Strange's shoddy memory both pre and post Portland, he doesn't exactly remember the longer form of that spell, but that's okay, they'll just make do with the shorter casting. An important thing about casting was to feel it. Try to tap into that feeling that you get whenever you cast that warding spell—and if there isn't a particular feeling, then find it in the first place. But the most important thing in Strange's mind is to love it. If magic is a chore, if it's something you view as a tool instead of an art, then it'll only be treated like a tool.

The way Strange talks about magic is surprisingly poetic. It's obvious he loves the stuff as every word and description about magic treats it like this object of great beauty. The talk lasts for a good fifteen minutes before he catches himself yawning, a large ridiculous sort of yawn that he doesn't even bother to cover. ]

Good Lord, [ he can't help but murmur, more to himself than to Yuya. ] I wonder how long it's been?

[Yuya listens quietly, in part because he doesn't want to interrupt Strange's pure enthusiasm for magic (it's like how he feels about duel monsters, probably) and also because exhaustion is slowly catching up to him, and he doesn't have the energy to interrupt. It means that every so often his eyes clothes a few seconds too long, and he misses some of what Strange says.

His response to Strange's question is a little delayed when he lifts his head and blinks slowly.] Oh, uh. I don't know.

[He rubs his eye as he pulls his duel disk out of his pocket and taps the screen, checking the time.] I've been out here for a couple hours? So I guess half an hour or something.

[That is not a remotely educated guess of the time.]

[ A half hour? Good Lord, that's longer than he had thought. Strange stands up, stretching slightly as he does so. ]

We should probably go back to bed. I've a feeling our trailermates are wondering where exactly we are.

Tamaki's probably still asleep. [He and Yuya don't keep too close of tabs on each other, he doubts he's worried for him.

He doesn't really want to sleep either, but he doesn't want to leave Strange wondering why he's sitting at the lake all night. So he rises to his feet, dusting off his pants with one hand.]

Syrlya...well, I've no idea if Syrlya sleeps in the first place.

[ Do plants sleep? Strange doesn't know. Is it rude to ask if he sleeps in the first place? Is that plant-racist, lord knows Strange doesn't want to be plant-racist. ]

I can use my magic to bring us closer to the trailers, if you wish.

[Yuya shakes his head with a small smile.] No, it's okay. I'll walk.

[He bows, politely, since Strange is now technically his teacher.] Thanks, Mr. Strange.

[ And Strange gives Yuya a little nod of his own. Yuya says he'll walk but Strange is 100% a cheat and is going to magic himself closer to the trailers. And thankfully, there's a bit of a puddle nearby thanks to that water otter that was playing at the start of their conversation. ]

You're welcome, Yuya. I'll drop off a lesson plan and the date of our next lesson sometime in the next few days.

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⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

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who's ready for SO MUCH MAGICAL BULLSHIT

The best kind of bullshit

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