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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Sans has been sleeping a lot, in between spurts of trying to make himself publicly available. All told, he hasn't spent much time in the medical tent at all. He wasn't injured the same way that the people there were, and he'd already received as much medical attention as anyone could manage for the time being. A few daunting surprises aside, he's been prepared to do very little but rest, as everyone would demand at a time like this.

Sans wakes up sweating at the knock, having been dealing with the downside of sleeping a lot - nightmares. He had a fair share of them before, but since what happened to him... there's been a bit of a resurgence. Too much going on upstairs, really, and it's only served to bring back fears he'd only been tentatively pushing off.

However, he has enough time to sit up and start wiping off some of that bluish liquid before answering.]

If you can fit!

[He sounds groggy and a little surprised, but he's awake.]

NFK-GK! [There is an awkward mix of a sputter and a cough in reply, but the door does at least open. Gongenzaka finds himself sniffing as he ducks in, stone paw and hoof thudding to far greater volume than the comparative silence of his other side.] Hmn..! ...Well, [he begins, looking about until he spies the other,] ...It would seem that I, the man Gongenzaka, can fit well enough...

....I do not intend to keep you long, either, of course, though... [He pauses, observing the other.] ........How do you fare...compared to then? [He manages, swallowing as the door closes behind him.]

[Sans sits on his bed with his blanket wrapped around his shoulders, though some of that blue sweat still remains. He seems a little bit uneasy, but it's not because of Gongenzaka.]

...Eh.

Guess that's kinda a low bar, huh?

[Some good things have happened, some bad. It's been a while few days, in between the sleep.]

I'm kinda surprised to see you out and about. You got it bad in there.

W-Well, out and about.... ....it is perhaps a rather 'low bar' in itself, aah? [He laughs, the sound coming out half a wheeze in itself.] I, the man Gongenzaka, can certainly walk to another trailer, or perhaps the medical tent, but...

....Mnhhh. ...I am...quite behind on all of my typical exercises, suffice to say! ...ahh....

....I, the man Gongenzaka.... ....admittedly wonder if I may have carried some resistance, to an extent...certainly not to the petrification itself, but.... [Well. He trails off, not wishing to put too much dwelling thought upon the differences in soul resistances and so on. If anything, it brings him to a rather important matter-]

....Sans... ...When I was struck, my grip tightened, despite my attempts otherwise. ....I, the man Gongenzaka, meant my words, but.... ....Did I cause any harm? [he manages, looking toward him with worry.] Were any of your injuries...My doing..?

[Sans's eyes widen because the question honestly catches him by surprise. A lot of the things he said while he was in that cave are hard to sort out. He'd been both delirious and half mind controlled, which made all of it a confusing experience.

Yet, he remembers being really defensive about everyone who had been in there. He'd been saying some pretty terrible things, and while he'd been razor-focused on Papyrus in the aftermath, maybe his brother isn't the only one he got to.]

Uh. I dunno, honestly.

[He doesn't want to lie about it, exactly, but... it's not like he's offended? Oh geez.]

I break pretty easy. Even if someone... y'know. Isn't trying to. I was panicking. Didn't know what the hell I was doing. For all I know, I hurt myself.

Ah.... [Gongenzaka both hears, yet does not hear those words. Breaking easily, even without intent....that is the idea that sticks in his mind, that is the thing which causes him to grimace, and bow his head.] Sans....

I, the man Gongenzaka, must then apologize deeply to you...

If I, the man Gongenzaka, had perhaps utilized another method... [But what method, his mind asks? What? Was there really anything else that could have worked in this situation?] ...Indeed, the intention was a distraction. But if I, the man Gongenzaka could have done anything....

To keep you from his hands again, would have been my goal.

One which I, the man Gongenzaka, failed immensely, [he adds, bowing down.] ....That, I witnessed for myself...

...Gon. [He starts it just before Gongenzaka has finished, gently interrupting. He's looking at him when he starts, but before he really gets into it he's already turned the other way.] We could spend all day trying to figure out who failed who the most. Maybe draw some flowcharts, write some essays, really sort out who should be feeling the guiltiest.

...But there's no point in that.

[He sinks downward, like he's turtling into the comforter around his shoulders.]

A lot of what happened wasn't brutally obvious mistakes. It's just... a lot of smaller misteps and bad luck that resulted in something outside of our control. What are you apologizing for? What would you have done different?

Do you really think it'd have been better if you didn't do anything?

....I... [His voice cracks, and he can only bring himself to partially stand, the lower half of him still upon the ground. It's strange, no doubt, for both to see the other like this. For him to see Sans, bundled in blanket, turtled away-for Sans to see Gongenzaka, lacking one arm, hair long and hanging at the sides of his face. Somehow they both manage to only emphasize the misery they could embody now, and Gongenzaka struggles to speak.]

...I could wish it, [he finally answers, his voice quiet.] ...but what happened, and what is...

No matter what could and could not be done, I, the man Gongenzaka, still caused harm. At the very least, in order to move on from that, I must apologize for those actions.

To do otherwise....that would be unforgivable.

To do otherwise, would be akin to no longer caring, for me.

[....He is quiet, after that. He can't argue the other after all, not about this. They really could spend all day-longer, even-determining who of them were more at fault.

But that wasn't what mattered.] ....We are....working upon a cure, as I am sure you know. ....That, at the least... ...That is one step forward already, I should hope.

[He could apologize, of course, for his somewhat pointless apology now. ....but that would be pointless itself, he realizes, instead doing his best to deliver more important matters.]

⇨ THE PRINCE IS DEAD

B1: D4

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