⇨ SHOW'S OVER

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone who DIDN’T get caught up in CY-Ren’s music, D13-D14.
When: D13-D15
Where: Wismuth, the Carnival
What: Recovering, taking stock, and trying to figure out where to go from here.
Warnings: ? ? ?

FALLEN STARS↴ ► AFTERMATH: After the culmination of the confrontation between Noa and CY-Ren — as much as it can be called one, since it ends with the Guardian being flung off the stage — the arena returns to darkness. After a few seconds of silence, the backup lighting sputters on, but instead of music a loudspeaker begins to blare loudly: ATTENTION, FANTASIA FESTIVAL ATTENDANTS. DUE TO AN EMERGENCY, WE WILL BE EVACUATING THE VENUE. PLEASE FOLLOW STAFF DIRECTIONS AND PROCEED TO THE NEAREST EXIT. THANK YOU. The pleasant, automated woman’s voice begins to play on loop as the concertgoers, snapped out of their trance, look at each other in confusion. The Void creatures that had come out at CY-Ren’s command are nowhere to be seen now, and neither is the singer herself. Wismuth police officers, though they look as uncertain and dazed as half the audience seems to be, break up the crowd and directing them to file out of the Fantasia Festival’s exits. It’s easy enough for Carnival members to slip away, though as they go through the crowd they’ll hear the festivalgoers discussing anything but the sight of Guardian and Harbinger in combat, much less people being dragged into shadows… “Right in the middle of CY-Ren’s set, too! Aren’t they supposed to check the wiring on these things?” “I paid to go to a concert, not a fire drill! I’d better get a refund!” “They didn’t have to shut the whole place down—" In the chaos and flow of people, it’ll be hard for Carnival workers to keep track of each other, but one thing is clear: they can’t stay here. ► HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN: The would-be saboteurs and those who’ve stayed behind have a chance to meet up again once they get back to the Carnival’s grounds. However, what exactly happened back there is unclear — and the one who might have answers is still unconscious from her brief altercation with the Harbinger. Still, there’s no shortage of things to do: after all, once they get back, it’s obvious there are more than a few missing faces. ► HEADLINES: Anyone who ventures to Wismuth in the days after the festival will find something peculiar: all news about the incident at the festival has been written off as a freak fire from some faulty wiring or a potential incendiary device, which reporters say police are ‘investigating the cause of’ and which some of the more sensational news sites are already having a field day with (based on rumors and hearsay the venue may have received a bomb threat). Most entertainment sites and social media coverage of the event only include blurry clips with captions like ‘tmw you fucked up the only vid you have of cy-ren’s concert 😭fml' and generally agree that it's a pity she never got past a second song.

Comments

[lonesomewanderer]

The hurt was easier to bear than entangling himself further with Lavellan. They would face each other in due time once they returned to Thedas. And yet he feels his body tense and his gaze sharpen at Cole's words.

"Focus, Cole. Another saw her there and said she was fighting back," he says, fighting hard to keep his voice steady without alarming Cole further. "Do you know what happened to the others that were fighting? Or the rest who have not yet returned?"

Even if he did not see her, he had to have seen something.

[hurtcomfort]

"The song sang to their souls. They stopped worrying." Which is something that worries Cole. It's good when people aren't hurting. But this odd sort of not-hurting, this express moment where something just clicked and people stopped worrying is immensely suspicious.

"She was fighting and helping but then she stopped. I-I don't know where she is," he repeats, "but the darkness might. Skulking and shadowed and unseen."

Was this working? Cole had no idea if this was working and if Solas knew what he was talking about.

[lonesomewanderer]

"They were enchanted?" Troubling if so. A magic-user able to captivate an entire audience would be one of great power. That explained the extent of Lambert's injuries and the need to take up arms. His brows furrow and, not for the first time, he scans past the entrance of the medical tent to see if he spots her out on the carnival grounds. If only he could be so fortunate.

"We cannot leave her," he says firmly. "If this darkness can help--" Then they would seek it out. He and Lavellan were doomed to be at odds, but he would not leave her to fend for herself against opposing fae.

[hurtcomfort]

"I don't know, I didn't see. But the darkness might be with the siren." Cole's problem is that he spent most of his time trying to help people evacuate the arena because people had the 'great idea' to shoot off some lasers. As such, he doesn't really know what exactly happened, just that something did. And Lavellan was gone.

"But they were enchanted." He knows that much, he's certain of that much. Nobody suddenly stops worrying like that. "And we will save her."

They've got to. Cole won't accept otherwise.

[lonesomewanderer]

"We will," he confirms without hesitation. As much as he and the former Inquisitor were at odds, he would not see her go out like this. With what he has done and is forcing her to endure, fighting by her side while they are so far from Thedas is the least he can do. "Can you track the performer?"

If this 'siren' enchanted those in the audience, finding them might be the lead they need to seek Lavellan out. Preferably before she gets in over her head. This wasn't the Inquisition or her clan, she would not have the weight of them behind her as she dealt with matters.

[hurtcomfort]

Cole's not entirely sure if he can. He frowns slightly, thinking as he tries to find a good way to explain to Solas. "They went from something to nothing. If I look for the nothing, I might find them and then I can find her."

Everybody had worries, everybody had hurts. To suddenly go from something to nothing was odd, especially to Cole. But how does one look for nothing in the first place? For someone so attuned to finding pain, looking for an absence of it would be hard.

"I'm glad you want to help," he murmurs though, as he looks over at Solas.

[lonesomewanderer]

"It would be a start." Somewhere to begin. When they had no other trail to follow, it was better than nothing. Whether more than Lavellan was missing was a concern far from his mind. His goal was to keep out of the spotlight and finish his contract without drawing unnecessary attention to himself. Playing hero to all that may be missing would be a role he'd hand over to the former Inquisitor and Cole.

He catches the murmur and waves off Cole's words. The feeling of his own hurt and guilt shined through even with his attempts to dampen it. She had taken on a responsibility she would not have needed to had he not failed with Corypheus. Yet another failing on his part.

"I owe her this much."

[hurtcomfort]

He owes her more, in Cole's mind. To love someone, to be close to them, and then learn it was all built on a lie? It was cruel. And the Inquisitor had already been though enough, belief challenged, tenacity tested, she doesn't need to go through even more, thanks to Solas.

"You do," Cole simply replies, with utter certainty. But then, the conversation shifts back to Lavellan, as a hint of uncertainty creeps into Cole's voice. "I can't find her here. The carnival's too full. We need to go to Wismuth."

Yes, that's a 'we', if you want to help, you're getting yanked on this search and rescue mission, Solas.

[lonesomewanderer]

Well. It is clear where Cole stands. What he owed anyone would hardly matter once they returned and he had his focus back. He would be able to correct his mistakes of youth, set the world right and make it feel real again. The Inquisitor could take out all she wanted on him then.

"I suspected as much." The part about going to Wismuth anyway. He's wandered the city streets before to acquaint himself with the technology that so many here were familiar with. Strange how it always seemed to involve bright lights.

But he had yet to visit the venue the concert was held at or the surrounding area. How far could they have gotten? He gestures for Cole to follow him as he takes long strides. "We should start where she was last seen."

[hurtcomfort]

Solas is already one up over Cole if he acquainted himself with the technology. Most of Cole's time in Wismuth was spent on the beach, with the seagulls, feeding them french fries.

But where she was last seen? Cole knows that place. And he thinks he can remember his way to the concert hall. "Follow me," he says, as he starts to...just straight up walk back to the entrance of the carnival. I'm sorry Solas, did you think things would wait, Cole wants to go find Lavellan right now.

[lonesomewanderer]

Cole will see no hesitation from Solas. The sooner they get there, the better chance they had that her trail had not gone cold. And the others that were missing, but Cole is the only one of them that would be likely to care.

"Did you see a fae attack at the concert hall?" he asks, watching Cole carefully. "I treated a man who had been harmed by Nightshade."

[hurtcomfort]

That's a surprise to Cole. He looks visibly shocked and confused as Solas mentions the fae. "I haven't," he responds, frowning. A faerie was there? Cole honestly doesn't know what to think about that. So many people were scared of them as a whole, like prey to a predator...and if someone was harmed by one, that fear would increase.

"Who was harmed?" It's an honest, yet slightly curious, question.

[lonesomewanderer]

"Lambert," he answers. There's no harm in the spirit knowing and if Cole knows anything about the man, he would want to know it. "He was poisoned and quick to leave when able." So he'd had very little chance to pry the man for information. Perhaps later when the man realized he needed more care to his wounds and could no longer chase after others.

"He mentioned he had been poisoned bodily this time instead of in spirit."

[hurtcomfort]

There are very few people in the world that Cole doesn't like. Lambert is one of them. He can't help it, he reflexively scrunches up his nose in dislike as soon as Solas mentions the man's name. He's sad that Lambert got poisoned, of course. This is Cole, he'd be sad if anything got poisoned. But man does he hate that guy. Still, a poison that affects the spirit...he can think of something like that.

"The Prince had something similar. It drove deep, stabbing the soul." A different fae, a different poison. And based on Cole's little frown, that wasn't a good time either. "I didn't feel it myself, but I watched the wounded. He was hurt then, too."

[lonesomewanderer]

Solas sees the instant dislike. Cole could see far more of a person than anyone else. Something to ask the spirit about then. If Lambert was someone Solas needed to be wary of and he made frequent visits to the med tent, Solas should know now before it was too late.

"I got the impression he preferred to be in the middle of things," Solas remarks. He had pegged that right. "What do you think of him?"

[hurtcomfort]

How to phrase this nicely...Cole pauses for a moment, thinking things over, unsure of how to explain it.

"He doesn't believe he can be happy. So he lashes and leers, fueled by anger, ready to fight the world if needed." Cole's face scrunches up into a frown as he continues. "He's also very violent."

Cole's smart enough not to mention the extent of how violent. Thanks for tossing him in the ocean, Lambert, that really sucked. Besides, he knows Lambert will screw something up himself eventually.

[lonesomewanderer]

"I will keep that in mind," he says with a nod of gratitude. Solas is more than capable of handling himself when surprises come at him, but he knows the power of having insight on his side.

"Can you tell me more of the Prince's magic?" Since Cole had already warned him of what could happen if he pried into this event with others. If the type of magic there were up against was one that penetrated a person's very essence, he can see why people would be reluctant to relive such pain.

[hurtcomfort]

"He changed people. They weren't themselves, sworn to serve, harsh and hating. He poisoned the bodies and the souls."

Cole didn't see any of this. All he's picked up were flashes of hurt from people's minds, watching them as he knew their personalities shifted somewhat. But what he could understand and could piece out was slightly terrifying.

"He took Sans's himself away."

Okay and now we're back to cryptic bullshit.

[lonesomewanderer]

The more he hears of the fae, the more Solas would swear that the Evanuris had escaped from their prison. That there would be another reality with such cruelty and depravity is one he wishes they weren't facing. But he was not here to fix this world, he had his own to alter and make right.

So instead, he focuses on the unfamiliar name. He's used to Cole being cyptic, at least.

"Sans? I have not yet met him."

[hurtcomfort]

"He's the warden. It's his job to try and keep people safe." He's also a sentient skeleton but Cole's leaving that part out for some reason. Probably because everyone in the carnival's a little bit weird, it's best if Solas figures that out himself.

"It can't be the Prince, though," Cole points out, with a little frown. "He's dead. I think. I only heard."

[lonesomewanderer]

Solas has noticed everyone here is... strange, to put it nicely. A walking, talking skeleton that isn't a demon will give him a start, but he'd get over it.

"I did not think it was," he clarifies. "The Ringmaster is the only fae I have met of that caliber. I want to understand their magic." For healing and his own, less-than-altruistic reasons.

[hurtcomfort]

That makes sense. Solas liked questions and he liked it when people could learn things. It only makes sense that he liked it when he could learn things as well. Cole nods a little, looking over at Solas.

"If not her, then there are others. People like to talk here." They talk about their magic, they talk about themselves, their lives, and so on and so forth. Cole's pretty sure that someone other than the Ringmaster could give Solas the dirt on fae magic if needed.

"She's helped some of them, so they've changed as well. I don't know which, though."

[lonesomewanderer]

"Yes, I have learned from some of those here." With great interest. There were worlds out there with similar designs of magic and separation of it from the physical. The more he could learn of it, the more he may be able to mitigate the damage from tearing down the Veil and properly rebuild. It was time that Thedas was put right. But that was a fantasy for another time. There was far too much work to do before that would come to pass.

He raises a brow at Cole's words. He's heard as much from one such person, but they had declined to give more details. Too much pain had been tied to the event. "I have seen those that have undergone physical and magical changes. What assistance does she offer?"

[hurtcomfort]

"She'll make things easier. Helping those with wings fly, killing their demons and changing their fate. She doesn't choose the changes, but she assists."

What assistance she offers is simple explanation. Fae magic sticks people with changes no matter what: Cole's nug ears slightly twitch as he thinks about changes in general. The Ringmaster occasionally helped those figure out more about their changes and more about what they could do. After all, most people don't know how to reach their true potential in the first place.

[lonesomewanderer]

"She has a greater impact on those that are brought here than I realized," he says with a shake of his head. "I doubt those brought here are done so at random."

There had to be a method to the selection. Why they were able to wander into the Carnival over all others that could have. The question was how much he wanted to pry into it. With the reward he would gain from all of this, did it truly matter why they had all been brought here? But Lavellan had arrived the same time he had. There had to be a reason.