lostcarnival | ⇨ INTERLUDE: BACK TO THE MOON

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⇨ INTERLUDE: BACK TO THE MOON

Who: Steven, the Ringmaster, Lambert, and everyone he invited to the party.
When: Day 8?
Where: THE CENTER OF THE MOON.
What: In an effort to determine the meaning of The Starlight's prophecy, Steven is going to try talking to the Blue Rose. Also, a bunch of other guys are here to watch.
Warnings: Some possibly dangerous weirdness.

THE BLUE ROSE↴
Once Lambert has assembled the group, it's just a matter of picking a time and date. When the time arrives, the Ringmaster will meet them in a clearing similar to the portal that lead them to the moon's surface, only a bit different in execution and tone: this one is more secretive and intricate by far. She'll gather everyone around, telling them she is going to take them to the Rose.

And then she does.

One instant, the group is in the forest - the next, they have appeared within a large, orb-shaped room carved from stone. There are no entrances and no exist, there is only the smooth rocky exterior with empty air inside of it. The gravity pulls outward, meaning that you can walk the stone 'floor' in circles, gazing towards the center of the empty space from all angles.

Any further away from the floor, and gravity will lose its grip entirely, like a space of zero gravity in the center of a cavern-sized globe. Which makes sense, because this is the carved out center of the moon.

In the center of the orb, there is only one thing: the Blue Rose, floating in place, with a tangle of glass-like thorns surrounding it. The air is thick with a feeling of simultaneously hot and cold, like a flame on a cold night, or a winter's breeze on an overheated body. The Rose casts an eerie blue light over it all, the only light to be found.

"This is it!" the Ringmaster declares once she's verified that everyone has teleported in safely. "If you jump high enough, you'll end up in the float zone... though, if you aren't participating in the actual discussion with the Rose, I'd recommend you stay grounded for now."

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The engineer grimaces. So the thing that there's an ominous prophecy about, which they're currently trying to investigate, is growing. She doesn't particularly like the sound of that! And she doesn't like the weird vacant look on her friend's face, either!

Her attention returns to Steven, and she calls out to him in an urgent tone: "Steven! Is everything okay up there?"

Rita's head snaps around to stare at the Ringmaster in disbelief. "You don't know!?"

Part of Rita's confidence in this venture was the assumption that the Ringmaster knew what she was doing... but no, it was stupid of her to think that. As always, Rita's best option is to rely on her own eyes and instincts.

Eyes narrowed, Rita turns her gaze back to the Rose, its outstretched vines, and Steven, and holds up her amulet in front of one eye to use as a looking glass. If she can get a good read on this energy, then perhaps she'll be able to tell if there's danger or malice in the Rose's reaction.

"Why would she know in the first place?" Strange pipes up, defending the Ringmaster even though really, she can do it by herself. He doesn't take his eyes off of Steven as he talks, squinting slightly to try and examine that magic as much as possible with his third eye.

"The Prince had the Rose for who knows how long. It's not like anyone could study it or try to figure out it's effects before it was retrieved."

Syrlya's attention is focused on the Rose and Steven entirely. Seeing it start to grow isn't surprising, both from his own experience with the Rose and with shaping plant life in general. Plants grow, it's their natural state, and the easiest thing to influence in them.

He's just not sure if Steven's purposefully influencing it that much, or if he's being overwhelmed by the magical power of it. His brow knits, a little worried. He can't sense magical irregularities, but he can at least sense if the Rose has a sudden development or shift in intention.

"Thank you," the Ringmaster says to Strange, apparently satisfied with that explanation. She's keeping her distance for now.

Meanwhile, the situation with Steven and the Rose is continuing to accelerate.

Those with refined magical sight will see the energy of the Blue Rose circling and 'feeling' out Steven's body, as if it's probing for information. Steven's magic, meanwhile, seems to serve more as a funnel for the Rose's magic than anything else - he's empathic receptiveness seems to have opened a spiritual door between him and the magical entity. Steven's 'aura' is becoming increasingly mingled with the Blue Rose's energies, the longer the two of them remain tide-locked.

Rita's enhanced view will notice additional magical activity within the gems that freckle Steven's body, and the larger one his navel. The roses in his hair and the plant-based wings on his back seem to be reacting as well, though in what direction is not yet clear. The vines keep growing, creating an increasingly labyrinthine web of crystal thorns around the two of them.

It's only at Peridot's call that Steven seems to clue in to any of the things happening around him.

He doesn't manage to look away from the Rose, but a certain awareness returns to his face - and with that awareness, comes the nervousness and fear that was so prominent before. He flinches, as if waking up a dream, and for the first time he tries to pull away. It's then that the thorns around him contract, their tendrils shifting into his flesh bloodlessly, like roots.

He cries out, his breath accelerating, his hands reflectively clutching the stem of the Blue Rose as he tries to pull it away from him. Yet, the tangle of crystal vines around his arms make it impossible to dislodge.

There's the sound of Peridot sucking in an alarmed breath, and then the bat is launching itself off Lambert's shoulder without warning, racing to flutter frantically next to Steven while calling his name.

Turns out, flying in zero gravity is a lot more complicated than anticipated! The second she enters the Float Zone, she starts kind of flapping around haphazardly and spinning nose over tail, trying to correct and then over-correcting, all while trying desperately to figure out what she can do to help. Without really thinking, she takes on her much larger dragon form, fiery claws heating in anticipation of slashing at the thorns directly.

Edited 2018-01-19 19:33 (UTC)

It's hard to say if it's a good thing or a bad thing that Peridot distracted Steven's focus, but there's nothing for it but to respond to whatever's happening. And there's really only one person he knows with that kind of experience, and he turns to him now, hands lacing together to form a makeshift step as he crouches down.

"Syrlya. Go," he says, shortly, nodding down at his hands. Hopefully, he gets the picture -- as soon as he steps into Lambert's hands, the witcher is going to boost him up towards the Rose and Steven, launching him straight up with as much force as he dares. He can't tell what's going on magically, but what seems obvious Steven could use some help being talked through this by someone who's at least successfully used the Rose before.

"This needs to stop," Syrlya just about hisses when Steven cries out. It's... anchoring, or something, and it's obvious Steven's losing control of the situation.

He turns to Lambert as soon as he hears his name, and the Nightrider is one step ahead of him. He nods once to him before rushing over.

"I'll separate them." And with that presses his foot to Lambert's hand and lets himself be thrust forward into the floating zone. He is... not used to moving without the ground under him, but his aim is to get straight to the Rose itself.

When Steven starts to struggle, Rita drops the amulet and allows it to dangle over her tunic, then... freezes in surprise for a moment when Peridot takes off and turns into a big honking dragon. That's new.

--Right, she has to focus.

"Be careful!" she calls to Syrlya and Peridot. "There's some kind of mingling of energy going on... It's like it's trying to influence something in him. Separating them won't be easy." It seems like Syrlya has some notion of what to do, though, so she'll hang back and let him take a stab at it before interfering.

Looks like Peridot and Syrlya are making the call - the Ringmaster didn't really think it was her call since it wasn't her plan, but she'll take their actions to mean this trial is over. She's not sure if this is something that Steven could have turned around with patience, but it's probably not worth the risk.

She's not going to rush into the middle, though - not when there's already two other bodies joining Steven in the struggle. The Rose could respond violently to her magic, so she needs to aid them more carefully.

The air shift in the float zone as she starts working her own magic, guiding Peridot and Syr towards their goal.

Edited 2018-01-19 23:16 (UTC)

Despite his attempts to free himself, the Blue Rose has succeeded in binding itself to his hands and arms, its hold on his body getting tighter as the thorns coil around him, their tips sinking into his body like ghostly tendrils. Steven's gems have gone from shining their normal pink to shining mostly blue, and the expression of awareness fades from his face again as he starts to fall limp.

Peridot and Syrlya will have no problem getting close, as the vines don't seem to be aggressive - instead, they just keep growing, winding in layers around Steven like a protective cage. The thorns don't seem to hurt Steven or be able to wound his flesh, but that doesn't go for anyone else what comes in contact with them.

The thorns cut the skin of other easily, and the scratches they leave burn viciously with cold. Of course, when they aren't making any moves to attack, it's possible to tear them away with relative ease. Slashing at the vines results in them breaking apart and shattering like glass, shards showering through the air like slow moving fractals.

Slashing and tugging is the method Peridot is taking at first. "Let-- go of him-- you-- stupid--
VINES!" She's aiming to try and get to Steven so she can tug him out, and she scrabbles at the cage of vines with her front paws, ripping chunks of them away with each swipe.

The problem here is that, unlike with regular gem shapeshifting, her transformation spells basically temporarily turn her organic. That means there's actual flesh there for the thorns to prick, and she recoils with a hiss as they pierce between her scales and start to burn.

With touching out of the question then, the next best option is to blast it with a fireball. Which, she does. Spitefully.

Influence something in him? If only this were a time for questions.

He anticipates the burning cold when some of the thorns, burying his lip and bracing himself but thankfully under far more protective layers this time. Still, he needs to--

His gaze flicks up at Peridot, finally giving her presence attention just as she's readying the fireball. And now he wishes he'd been looking a little sooner.

"Wait--" No, it's too late. He's on the other side of the growing cage, grabbing one of the vines you brace himself as he tries to reach between them to get to the Rose. He's doing the same thing as the manner, trying to coax it to stop growing and let him closer so he cab grab it and break the stem to separate them.

With the Ringmaster standing down, Lambert will do the same -- no sense rushing into things, for once, something he's sure the other witchers would laugh at if they could see him now. However, that doesn't mean he's motionless, or intending to simply stand around. He'd quite like to reach up and grab Peridot, but to be honest, he can't say he doesn't share the impulse.

"I need you to keep watching them," he tells Rita. "Tell us what the Rose is doing." In the meantime, he's unzipping his hoodie and pulling it off, leaving him in a plain buttoned shirt with the magitite bracers Peridot gave him on his forearms, but he doesn't do anything else, yet, keeping his gaze fixed on the proceedings and seeing how the Rose reacts to the intrusion instead.

Rita looks to Lambert when he speaks to her, reacting first with a reluctant grunt. Standing on the sidelines while things get increasingly out of control doesn't sit well with her... but she sees the logic in it, and it's only a moment later that she relents. There's no time for arguing, after all.

"Got it."

She holds up the amulet once more, focusing with it as she observes the Rose.

Strange is also standing down. Once Peridot and Syrlya got tossed up there, that takes out any plan of his to try and break any magic the rose has on Steven or anything like that. There's just too many people up there and it's too dangerous. So, he's watching the proceedings as well, letting everybody else take the lead, though he's obviously tense and antsy and desperately wants to do something.

He does briefly get distracted by the shards of broken vine before Lambert's taking his hoodie off and oh goddammit, Lambert's taking clothes off, Strange has an idea about what might happen.

"Lambert, we're in an enclosed space on the inside of the moon," he can't help but point out, as he looks over to Lambert, then back up to the breaking vines, then back up to Steven. "We don't need any more large, heavy beings."

Edited 2018-01-20 01:23 (UTC)

"It'll be easier to reach," Lambert shrugs, eyeballing the distance between him and Steven with the expert eye of someone who, if nothing else, has learned the very physical limits of his new body. He knows exactly how much space he takes up as a dragon, and how close that will take him to Steven and the Rose.

"I'll bite him out if I have to. But I don't think I will." He's putting a lot of faith in Syrlya, all right.

Upon Rita's investigation, it seems pretty clear that the magic of the Blue Rose is completely overwhelming anything that Steven could have brought to the table. She can see the magic of the vines' roots branching throughout his entire body, now, and something about the energy of his physical makeup has been changing to match. It's like his circulatory system is entirely alight right magic.

Gem bodies are made of energy, and as a half gem, Steven is half-formed from that power, too. That pure magical energy seems more malleable than regular flesh would be.

Peridot's fire blast crushes the outer layers of the thorny maze, putting a pause on its increasingly out of control growth. Unfortunately, in Syrlya's current place, the thorns are pushing too far out for him to reach the Rose, though his fingers extend frustratingly close. Of course, Peridot has just freed up another way in.

The fire sends enough of a shock through the Rose's system that it causes Steven to stir again, though he's so dazed and overwhelmed, there isn't much he can do with these scattered moments of clarity. He squirms, trying to pull his hands away from the Rose again, his breath growing heavy and rapid as if a creeping discomfort is rising to a climax.

A feeling of overwhelming helplessness sweeps through the room - but the sensation comes from an outside source. It's an empathic projection, coming from Steven.

It's severe emotional whiplash for Peridot, tasting success for that brief moment and then promptly getting slammed by a wave of hopelessness. It actually makes her physically recoil, jerking away from the epicenter of the action with a squeak and pained shake of her head.

And this is enough. Childermass hadn't been terribly on board with this place to begin with but he was at least willing to — not unlike the Ringmaster — humor Steven and Lambert in this. Overwhelming helplessness seems to have the opposite effect on him, a man who despises such an emotion. It washes over him and he does suffer through the wave of sudden doubt and fear, for all of three or four seconds, then he's just angry. A cold anger, not even related to his status as a Winter Court changeling. There's no yelling, no swearing, not even a sound.

One second there's a tall, lanky magician lurking in the background near Strange, the next there's a crow hurling itself up through the air and into the field around the Blue Rose.

He aims for Peridot as she begins drifting away from the struggle, landing on her first and using her to propel himself further through the field, landing on her further along, and then shoving off one more time as he changes shape once again. Back to a human, aiming to crash into the thorny cage still wrapping around Steven and pulling what looks suspiciously like a rather small knife from the buckle of his belt as he goes.

Let's see how those thorns feel about a little iron.

Being a High Fae herself, the Ringmaster notices the iron blade as soon as its unsheathed. Ah yes. The iron blade she gave to Childermass herself. Hmm.

"Aww - You better not destroy that thing, Childermass!" she shouts after him, while channeling the air magic she's been using to help guide him in the same breath. Not that he really seems to need the help.

Syrlya feels Steven's emotions, poignantly. It's been months since he felt that familiar thrum of someone else's feelings in the back of his heart, and it's sharp, but he's just as used to pressing it down, all too aware of what is and isn't his.

His gaze snaps to the opening that Peridot makes. He doesn't know what keeps the Rose so docile in the face of its vines getting blasted, but he'll take it. He pulls his arm free and uses the vines as grapples to pull himself around to the larger opening, am outstretched.

Probably at around the same time Childermass arriving. He's aware someone else is there, but his first concern is snapping the Rose's stem and separating Steven.

So he makes one more lunge for it though the vines, housing between his teeth as some of the thorns scratch his face.

The feeling that fills the room is -- odd -- but it slides around Lambert's mind rather than wrapping him up in it. Seeing Peridot flinch back, his ears prick forward, about to call out.

Then Childermass flings himself forward, and that seems to be enough bodies up there for the time being. He doesn't make good on his threat to change yet, but he's shedding his bracers, speaking to Rita again as they hit the ground.

"Is the Rose going for Childermass too?"

As Childermass drags his blade through the first of the vines blocking the way, the entire mass of vines seems to pull away reflexively, retreating from a blow that hits harder than it has any sensible right to. The iron's burn is immediate, reducing the vine it touches to steam and moisture in a wide area around the actual cut.

It's a convenient hesitation in its movement, and a pause in its growth, that allows Syrlya to get in close before any more thorns can get in his way. Once next to Steven, it seems bizarrely trivial to reach out and break the blossom of the Blue Rose free from Steven's hands and the rest of its vines.

The effect is immediate. The blue glow starting to overtake Steven's body behinds to fade, and the intensity of the Rose's bitter cold-heat falls along with it. The splintered end of the Rose's stem will begin trying to regrow in Syrlya's palm, but at a much slower and more hesitant rate, as if it isn't sure what has just happened and it's simply trying to get rooted again.

The thorns stay tangled around Steven like long ropes of glass, but they fall slack, which allows the boy to follow suit. The ends of the vines are left, still seemlessly entering through his skin in places along his arms, back, and belly - somehow without any visible disruption to his skin.

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