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.

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And, predictably, Francis begins meowing at Strange. He starts with a cute, pathetic-sounding mewling carefully tailored to pull on the heartstrings of humans.

As she glances away, there is a very slight change in the color of Rita's face at that offer. She loves cats, everything about cats, and... okay, she might be thinking about it. But also... no.

"Yeah... I'll pass. I've already had more transformation magic used on me in the past few months than I'd care to experience in a lifetime." And this latest misadventure left a particularly bitter taste in her mouth.

Besides, the eating spiders part isn't exactly selling the experience.

"I do know how to break the spell. You'd only have to be a cat for an hour or two if you wish."

Because Strange sees that Rita's thinking it over. And Strange will gladly enable any bad decisions, especially if they're bad decisions where he can show off how cool his magic is.

And okay, Francis's meowing is definitely pulling at Strange's heartstrings because he's a sap. Let's try and give the kitty some food. "Do you have any treats in here for him, by the way?"

And now Rita's face is perceptively redder. "I wasn't interested!" she snaps, then quickly reaches for the water, because her vocal chords aren't in great shape for snapping at people right now.

As for Francis... Rita might blame Strange for spoiling him while she was gone, but the fact is that she can't resist spoiling him, either... so after just a brief hesitation, she sighs and gives in. "...Should be a can of sardines in the cupboard. He likes those."

Strange gives her a big ol'shit-eating grin. Sure Rita wasn't interested. Suuuuuure. He'll happily call her out on that a bit later, partly because he wants to show off and partly because might not be a good idea to turn the slightly petrified and poisoned person into a cat.

Still, sardines in the cupboard. He can do that. Gingerly, Strange sets Francis on the ground as he walks over to the cupboard. "Can I get anything for you as well?"

The Litten's meowing grows more insistent with each passing second.

Does Rita want something...? "Sure, if we have anything." She has some catching up to do when it comes to eating, considering she went three days without food while in the Prince's dungeon. However, she doesn't sound like she expects there to be much here.

And there isn't. In addition to the sardines, there's a box of cereal, a packet of instant noodles, and a whole lot of empty space in the cupboard. The fridge contains a few bottled condiments and a half-empty jar of pickles. Such are the living conditions of a girl who doesn't cook and a robot who doesn't need to eat.

As Strange opens the cabinet...well, he just kind of frowns. Unsurprisingly, the living conditions of a guy who doesn't cook aren't any better so this certainly looks familiar to him. "Well, we'll have to stop by the cookhouse later anyway, we can find you something to eat then."

But first, we're gonna feed the cat. Taking out the sardines, Strange walks over towards Rita, sitting down next to her. It's only when he's there that he opens up the tin of fish so that if Rita wants to spoil her cat as well, they're within reach.

Taking one of the sardines, he offers it to Francis.

"He was remarkably well-behaved while you were gone, by the way."

Rita doesn't look too disappointed at his failure to find something for her; this was about what she expected. Getting 9S to grab food from the cookhouse for her is pretty much the only way she's been eating since getting back.

His cries coming to an abrupt stop, Francis eagerly takes the offered sardine and starts eating it.

"Really? I would've thought he'd be getting into all kinds of trouble." Of course, well-behaved is subjective... and people who give Francis food tend to mostly see his good side. Mostly. "Careful with the tin," she warns, vaguely. Francis is quickly finishing up that first sardine, and Rita just caught a familiar glint in his eyes.

Strange doesn't get much time to decide what to do about that warning, because in the next moment, Francis springs at him and snatches the tin from him. Holding it in his mouth, he then leaps onto the counter and darts out of reach.

Strange can't help but let out a yelp of surprise as the cat completely steals the sardine tine. Why—that jerk! That thieving jerk!

"You've never done this to me before," Strange complains, as he stands up and walks over towards Francis, trying (and probably failing) to grab the tin from his mouth. He's got a feeling that the cat isn't supposed to eat all the sardines in one swoop.

Francis braces himself, his tail raised... and as soon as Strange reaches out, he evades, then leaps over furniture until he reaches an open window which he effortlessly slips out through, tin still held firmly in his mouth.

The cat's audacity coupled with Strange's reaction is enough to bring a small smile to Rita's face. "He doesn't like doing what he's supposed to," she says, fondness in her tone. Also, this quirky trait of his is largely her own fault for never disciplining him, but she seems totally okay with that.

Strange gapes at the cat for a moment...before he shrugs. It's already happened and there's really no way he can chase after the cat at the moment. Besides, Strange also doesn't like doing what he's supposed to, so what's aggravating is also a bit endearing.

"He's managed to grab an entire tin of fish. I'd run away as well if I was in his shoes." Walking back to Rita, he sits down at her side again, looking back at the girl. "Hopefully the silly thing doesn't know where I live. I'm rooming with Syrlya now and I doubt he'd appreciate being used as a scratching post."

"That plant guy...?" Rita smirks at the mental image. "Now that would be interesting to see."

She finds the thought humorous, in fact, though she stops short of actually laughing. Still, this is as close as she gets to showing any sign of having a sense of humor. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the one thing Rita happens to find funny is the pain and humiliation of others.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, provided he doesn't smell too appealing to cats," she adds with a light shrug.

"You know, there's only one way to find out." Because Strange has no clue how appealing or not Syrlya smells to cats. Strange might have been a cat for a day or so but that doesn't really mean he knows the ins and outs of cats.

Besides, if it turns out that Syrlya does smell appealing to cats, at least they'll now know what the answer is.

⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

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