⇨ 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

[anti_nonsense]

Rita falls quiet for a few seconds. She wants to just dismiss his apology again like before, but... fine. She'll take it.

"I'm okay," she says firmly, answering the question he didn't quite finish asking. "It's just... weird... that I can remember being something that isn't me." Weird is putting it lightly, but she's not about to come out and say it's terrifying or sickening, even though that's a lot more accurate. She remembers looking at her friends and wanting to eat them. She remembers her friends looking at her with expressions of fear, and pain, and cold disdain...

"Whose bright idea was that, anyway? The Ringmaster's?" When in doubt, Rita's going to go ahead and blame the Ringmaster.

[hippocarnival]

"Uh--I don't know exactly, I wasn't very involved in whatever they were planning..." He looks down at the table and the cards laying out on it. "But I don't think killing you was her idea. It's not like her, but the Prince would be that cruel."

There's a heavy bitterness as he almost spits out the Prince's name, and just thinking about it still fills him with anger and grief. When he looks back at Rita his expression is tighter, like he doesn't want it to spill out. "You're my friend, I'd never want to hurt you!"

[anti_nonsense]

It's not like her...? Rita's not sure she agrees. She wouldn't put it past any fae to be that cruel. The Ringmaster must have known what the Prince would do in this situation. She may not be solely responsible, but she's not completely blameless.

Yuya's next outburst leaves Rita slightly flustered. "I... I know that! I never thought you would." It's Yuya, after all. And besides, she remembers how scared he looked when they were fighting. There was never any question about his intentions.

[hippocarnival]

"Well, good," the words roll out sulkily, and he absently reaches to hold his pendulum for a moment. He takes a deep breath before he lets it go, holding out the few seconds it takes to calm down.

The awkward silence sits for a moment before his gaze is drawn back to his deck for a moment. "Um, do you want to play sometime? I don't know if I can split my deck, but I have friends from home here. I bet they'd be willing to sit with us and let you borrow their deck, or you could borrow most of mine."

Most of his. But he doesn't think one card will make a huge difference to Rita if she's still learning.

[anti_nonsense]

As Yuya calms down, Rita does too, running a hand through her hair and watching, with some interest, the pendant he's grasping.

Yuya... He really must be going through a lot. Rita knows she's not the only friend he nearly lost. Even with the worst behind them... that just means there's time now to let it sink in, to actually feel all the emotions that had to be pushed aside in the heat of the moment.

She sighs. "Of course I'll play. What, you think I sat through your explanation just so I could chicken out?" Her tone is haughty. Normal. There's a pause, and then she adds, curiously, "Only most of yours?"

[hippocarnival]

Rita's haughtiness does, at least, draw a smile out of him. He's taking it as a sign she really is feeling better.

But then he has to explain himself. "Um, it's just that Odd Eyes is special?" He flusters, rubbing the back of his neck. He feels kind of bad about not sharing him. He's sure it makes him look selfish or like he doesn't trust Rita, but the idea of giving Odd Eyes to anyone else is uncomfortable. It makes them both nervous.

"No one else has ever dueled with him except me, it's..." Mentally he scrambles for an explanation Rita will understand. "It'd be like if you gave someone your blastia to use!"

[anti_nonsense]

Rita looks puzzled... until he brings up the blastia comparison.

Absently, she touches her fingers to her throat once again, frowning slightly at the blastia's absence. Once the swelling goes down enough and the bruising starts healing, she should be able to wear it again... but right now, it's best if she doesn't put anything tight around her neck.

"Right... I guess that makes sense." She doesn't really understand his attachment to the card, but most people don't understand Rita's attachment to the blastia, either... so she'll leave it at that.

"I'm sure I can still beat you or any of your dumb friends, even without your special card," she smugly adds, acting completely confident for absolutely no good reason.

[hippocarnival]

"Hey, remember you're just learning!" But he laughs when he says it, propping his arms on the table. He believes if anyone could understand the reason he's so attached it'd be Rita, but as she doesn't ask, he doesn't offer it.

"But I'll show you how to use the rest of my deck, that way when you play you already know what you're doing." Provided, you know, Rita doesn't have any issues with playing with the circus animal cards.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita agrees. Sure, his deck's theme is kind of embarrassing, but considering she didn't exactly bring her own cards, she can't complain too much. Besides, after boasting about how good she is at games of strategy, it would be poor form to complain about the literal cards she's dealt.

So as Yuya continues explaining the cards, Rita is an active listener, frequently asking questions about terminology, rules, and hypothetical situations in the game.

After some time, though, he'll notice that Rita starts to run out of steam. Her focus wanes, she asks questions about things that were already explained, and she starts having short bouts of zoning out.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya, in contrast, seems to find energy in teaching her the game. But he notices Rita starting to fade. He trails off, watching her for a moment before he starts to gather his deck again with a smile.

"You look tired, Rita. Maybe you should rest some more."

[anti_nonsense]

When he starts gathering the deck, Rita looks up in alarm. "I... I'm fine!" she protests reflexively. But she knows she was zoning out just now, and it's probably no use trying to fool Yuya...

She sighs, visibly frustrated with herself. "I know... I just shouldn't be getting tired this quickly." She's tougher than that. Or she should be.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya props his elbow on the table and his chin on his hand, giving her a bit of a dull look. It's definitely no use fooling Yuya here. "But you're hurt, so of course you're not going to feel well. It's not like it's your fault..."

He takes his deck in both hands then, his expression brightening up."but I can come back tomorrow if you want. I know it's really boring to be stuck in bed all day."

[anti_nonsense]

Rita shakes her head, not wanting to accept that. It's not normal. It's the venom at work. Has to be.

But it's true that there's nothing she can do about that right now.

"Tomorrow?" Rita's trying not to sound too eager, but she's quick to agree. "I'll hold you to that."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya grins wide when she accepts. He practically bounces out of his seat as he gets up, nodding.

"Yeah, I'll come back tomorrow afternoon! And I'll bring my cards... is there anything else you want me to bring?"

Food, medicine, whatever Rita can't get while she's stuck in her trailer.

[anti_nonsense]

"Something to eat, I guess," is the first thought to come to mind. Rita gets up too, but she does so slowly, and takes just a step or two before flopping over onto the couch, immediately turning over on her side and wrapping her wings around herself like a blanket. Apparently, she's not going to wait for him to be out the door before she makes herself comfortable.

"And... Yuya?" she murmurs, her face obscured under the feathers. "...Thanks. For coming, and... for being there when I came back."

[hippocarnival]

Something to eat, got it. When she moves, he waits for her to settle before he heads for the door... and then stops, tilting his head to make out what she's saying.

He turns to look at her, smiling warmly as his hand rests on the knob. "Yeah, anytime. I said it, right? You're my friend, so I'm here for you."

And she'll see him tomorrow, with food from the cookhouse.