lostcarnival | ⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

Entry tags:

⇨ 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 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..?

Skeleton dogs... [His eyesockets narrow. Sans' dogs haven't been around as much, but they still exist. And they've never yet gone for any of his bones... so it's like they're skeletons who are dog-shaped, rather than dogs who happen to be boney.] I think they're fine! They already have bones. Maybe they can even make bones for themselves...

But, anyway, I make bones for lots of things. Like gifts, but most of all: as attacks! They're for fighting with.

....Oh! [Woah!!! Attacks?! Here she had been nodding with serious understanding of this information about Skeleton Dogs, but now there's talk of attacks? Fighting?

Attacks and fighting for her??] ...........You're giving me a bone....to keep me safe? [She interprets, apparently more awestruck than even before.]

Huh??? [Wait what? He blinks and hesitates a second, surprised and confused. For him, it'd been more of a crafting project than anything. But it is a bullet, technically, so she's not wrong how it could be used.] It... can help with that! If you can use bones? It's not very magical on its own, it's just a bone right now.

But... swinging one of these around is one way to fight. [A good enough way for the Hunt. He tries, very hard, not to think about that. It was bad.

Y-You said it was something you used for attacks.... [She looks...a little more worried if anything, so it definitely wasn't her first though.] Um. ....I just want to make sure that I use a 'present' right, because... ....I've never gotten one, like this?

...I didn't think I was going to get something, and then you came and gave me something, [She explains, trying to at least quell any confusion from the other.] So...

...It feels really important, to make sure it's right!

Ohhh. I do use them for attacks! That's how my magic is, because, I'm a skeleton. [It might be hard to tell under the distracting scattering of orange crystals, and she might not be familiar with them, who knows.]

But, presents... I think the best thing is, use it how you want to use it. Just knowing you appreciate it is right enough for me!

If that means attacks, I could... show you some tips and tricks for wielding a bone! If that means saving it as a high-grade, Papyrus Collectors' Item, we could... find a shelf to display it on?

Really, there's so many options, I'm making myself dizzy with them.

Ummmmh....

[Well, that's fortunate. But. What's unfortunate is, well.] ................that's a lot of choices.........

[Papyrus you were meant to help her figure this out, now there's TOO MANY CHOICES.] Ummhhh....

...can....you.... [She looks at the bone a bit. This seems far too large to do something like wear on a sleeve or something. And she definitely doesn't want to ruin her first Real Present by going around and hitting people with it. Or however magic bones work.] Mmnnh... ...Magic is something that sounds 'cool', [she admits, the last word feeling a bit odd to say,] But........

....Can you hug a bone? [She decides, blinking at the skeleton. She might not know what to do with this yet, but that answer is still Important, she figures.]

Absolutely!!! [He very nearly shouts in agreement, and encouragement. That use never occurred to him... but it's good! And it's one she thought of herself, which means! She must love the present!!]

Bones are great for hugging, that's what makes skeletons so cuddly. [He should know, he has hugged a skeleton at least twice this week. And his daemon is pretty physically affectionate when she's about.]

[SKELETONS ARE CUDDLY?

She is staring at him with quite a fair bit of awe, now. She didn't know this, after all! She's assuming he means...monster skeletons, granted. She's never had much of a chance to hug a monster skeleton, so....

...So Reira takes a few steps deliberately forward, and decides to hug him.

Or his legs. She's quite short, so.]

[Their softness is over-hyped, as he is bone and crystal in some fairly light clothing, hard when squeezed. But cuddly...

He eeps a high-pitched sound in his surprise, staring down at her. She's so short! It's almost more a leglock than a hug, some corner of him expects to be toppled over at any moment! But that's a hug, and still a hug, and it's precious.]

You see! Cuddly as can be, although... I admit, I didn't think of the difference in our heights! If I could kneel down, I could hug you back?

[Failing that, maybe he could blue magic her up into the air. But you don't just do that, you give warning first.]

Um... [Things that don't generally happen. That.] ...I-If it means a hug, you can do anything, I think..!

....Lots of people are taller than I am, though.

[Anyway you're still cuddly, even if it's like. Rock cuddly.]

Being short... it's a real hug-obstacle if they're floating.

Fortunately, with a little wiggle room... You can hug on an equal footing, regardless of if they have feet. Behold, and be held!

[Papyrus gestures, pings her blue, and floats her up where they can hug face to face.]

Wiggle room? [Reira starts-but with a quick yelp, she sees what Papyrus means.] AH-!

[It's good that she's quick to react, really-because quickly she's got her arms around the other's shoulders, half for the hug and half for fear of floating away.] ...Woah.

[She calms down once she realizes she isn't, of course.]

[ Let's see, what are Flowey's feelings again? Antagonism, pettiness, disgust, heartbreaking sadness at the loss of someone or something you used to have, kinship, fear, dread, revelation.

... which means if he's skewing anywhere, he's more scared of anyone right now, so the best he can do for himself is pop up near Reira and try to force kinship to the front. All the scared feelings are calling out the others, and he doesn't like it.

He leans to see Papyrus hug her, staring a bit blankly, and...

Burrows into the ground again! ]

[Papyrus waits out that moment of surprise, and grins once she hits something like calm awe.]

As you can see... I'm a truly expert hugger! No matter the height difference, I can make it happen.

[Not that he's had much call for it, but you never know!!]

Hahhhhh...! [That's for sure! She's sort of stuck here, now, but wow!!] Was....Was that the magic you talked about for bones..!?

How do bones make that magic..!? [She questions, eyes wide. Of course, just as she says that, there's a little....blip near them, and then back to farther away, and-]

Umn.... [She looks to the ground where Flowey Was, and then toward where he should be now. Which is decidedly not the direction of Papyrus' face.]

[ Quietly, he rises again, watching. This felt comfortable, yeah.

He remembered that Papyrus nearly brought him to that state of non-boredom and kept things new every now and then, and Reira-- Reira already believed him. ]

No, that's a different magic! I do use them together, sometimes, and they can both be blue...

[It's the best combination. Bones to distract as he pings a soul blue... blue magic to trip people up, making it harder to dodge the bones... A match made in blue magic heaven! Wherever that might be.]

I don't think having a bone would let you use it... but I'm happy to give a lift any time. [The moment he knows she wants down, she can drift to the ground with the gentlest of tugging. Like bouncing around on the moon!]

Oh..! I guess that makes sense... ....if blue means things that go up and down, or make bones.... [These are two very different things though. Erm. Regardless, she carefully lets go, after a slight nod to the ground.] Um-I should go down now, though....

[She has to go Find someone. Or actually, speak to someone, since now that she looks, she can see Flowey again.] Ah-

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject