⇨ INTERLUDE: BACK TO THE MOON

[ringleaders]

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."

Comments

[whattaprick]

There isn't much Lambert can contribute here except to pat Steven awkwardly on the back and attempt to silently communicate, with his expression, that lines of questioning that aren't going to inspire Steven to cling and cry harder would be appreciated. Lambert's essentially holding a feathery plant kitten, and unlike everyone else, he's in range of his claws if he panics again.

"It's obviously got more than enough power of its own. You'd think it wouldn't need more," he directs at the room. Maybe someone else with a better grasp on magical theory could try to answer this one. Meaning yeah, Strange's theory sounds plausible enough. "Syrlya and the Ringmaster both aren't part of the Courts that made it. You think it that way because it recognized Summer in Steven?"

He looks up at the Rose, uneasily. He wonders if it's so strong because it's consumed others before, if that's how it was made. Not the most relaxing train of thought, that's for sure.

[kingsroads]

"Syrlya and the Ringmaster also have more experience and more control over their magic," Strange tentatively interjects, with a frown. "They could be able to resist the influence easier." It could be because of the Court attachment. It could also be that Steven sucks at magic.

Of course, he probably shouldn't say that Steven doesn't have experience with magic right when Steven's being a sad little crying rosebush but it's a valid theory, gotta at least mention it.

"Needless to say, we've got plenty of theories, but short of shoving another person up there, I've no idea how to test them."

[lordofthering]

"There are a number of factors that could have affected this outcome, most of them unique to Steven," the Ringmaster says, waving a bit dismissively. "There's the Court connection... there is the Rose Queen's lineage. Her magic has an innate kinship with roses, that probably extends to this one, no matter how it was created... and from what I understand, Steven's birth mother had a connection to plant life and roses as well."

"There's also the fact that he's a reasonably strong empath, which could easily result in any influence from the Blue Rose affecting him more violently than would be standard. Or the fact that his body is partly made of light energy, and energy is easier to alter with magic than solid matter. There are all kinds of factors that could have played into this. Possibly, Steven was just the perfect storm of traits that the Blue Rose's power could take advantage of..."

She crosses her arms, sticking up her nose.

"But, regardless, that is quite enough for today! I see no point in allowing further experimentation, at the risk of anyone else being compromised. Steven's testimony suggests that the Rose is just as I thought... without an agenda, beyond its own survival and ability to flourish."

She lifts her arms, beckoning everyone in closer.

"I'll escort you back to the carnival grounds, and you can take him to the medical tent from there."