⇨ 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

[kingsroads]

Just Nightshade's name runs a chill through Strange's spin and his face pales. Almost instantly, Strange leans in, trying to get a closer look at the arm, as if he can see through the bandages right to the wound itself. Whatever the hell Nightshade did, she fucked him up good. Which honestly, Strange isn't surprised about.

"That bitch," he murmurs under his breath. He looks up at Lambert, eye to eye, and it's damn obvious that Strange is trying his hardest to keep calm already. There's a little hitch of terror in his voice and his hands are already starting to shake. Because if Nightshade was here...well, what the hell was she here for? This can't have been a coincidence. The rational part of his brain is pointing out that maybe it's the Blue Rose, maybe she was just trailing the carnival itself, but the irrational part of Strange's brain is just screaming that she's here for him again and this time he won't be lucky enough to escape.

"If it's her, she probably poisoned you. You'll need to..." He'll need to what? Strange can't help out with poison, something that he's cursing himself for now. "I can only break spells, not remove toxins. You'll need to see someone in the medical tent. Do you have a healing draft?"

[whattaprick]

"That's what I said." Despite the situation, Lambert can't help but laugh. Because yeah, Nightshade's a nasty piece of work. His face looks a bit bruised on one side, too, more obvious when he smirks at Strange, though he looks serious soon enough.

"I'm heading back to the med tent right now. Had to tell the Ringmaster what's up first." He feels a little better now, but he's still got an unhealthy tinge to his skin. The hoodie he was wearing with Strange earlier is gone, stripped to the shirt beneath; he regrets not wearing the bracers Peridot gave him under his shirt. More oversights.

"I told Syrlya he's in charge of telling the rest of you where to go until it clears up, because we need someone who can move around." He pauses. Chances are, Strange is going to complain about this, but it still needs to be said. "I want you to stay in the Carnival."

[kingsroads]

At Lambert's last statement, Strange simply raises an eyebrow. He's not surprised that Lambert wanted him to stay at the Carnival, considering that there's a brainwashing torture faerie out on the loose but did Lambert honestly think that Strange would stay in the Carnival?

"Out of the question," Strange responds, with a little shake of his head. "We're already down two supervisors." It's said with a very pointed look at Lambert's hand. Yes, he's still up and can still walk about but he got poisoned by Nightshade. Who knows just how out of commission he'll end up being or how long the poison will seep?

"The Carnival needs all the help it can get. And I can't help it if I hide away in my trailer and not do anything."

[whattaprick]

It's about the answer Lambert expected, and he doesn't have the will to enforce otherwise just now. Besides, he can't argue about the practicality of it -- this is a job for the nightrunners, and they need to be out there, looking for people.

"Can't help if you get kidnapped, either," he'll point out nevertheless, because he's a jerk and it needs to be said. He shifts his weight, tail curling behind him, expression serious again.

"I thought..." He frowns, ears swiveling forward and back, then changes tracks abruptly. "Where's Steven?"

[kingsroads]

He rolls his eyes as Lambert points out the kidnapping bit. Strange opens his mouth, like he's going to retort to Lambert's statement, before Lambert asks a worrisome question. Shit. He doesn't have a clue where Steven is. There's only a few things Strange can imagine Nightshade would be after (because of course she's shown up in Wismuth to try and take someone from the Carnival, that's the only answer in Strange's paranoid mind). And out of those few things, one is decidedly missing in action.

Strange hasn't checked on Steven yet. But he can check on him now. He's got the basin on him, but unfortunately, he doesn't have any water. So, Strange starts looking around, as if there's going to miraculously be a bottle of water hanging out on carnival grounds.

"If you have any water, I'll need it. If not, duck into one of the tents. I'll have to call up some rain." Because of course he's going to check on Steven here and now and in the middle of the carnival. Why wouldn't he? The idea of just going to another trailer and finding water there isn't entering Strange's mind, he's so focused on doing this as fast as possible. "Was he at the concert?"

[whattaprick]

Since Lambert obviously doesn't have any water on him, it's to the shelter of a tent he goes, though he keeps talking as he moves and hangs out in its entrance, just enough to duck out of any rainfall.

"He was. So was Peridot, Sans, Carly, and Herbert." The rest of that list is rattled off with a tired efficiency. If Strange is going to start scrying for people, he might as well begin with the supervisors, which he's already told the Ringmaster about. That's more than half of what the Carnival has that passes for leadership unaccounted for.

"9S and Rita checked in. Lavellan's gone." Gone where, he doesn't know.

[kingsroads]

Strange can't help but scowl, repressing the urge to swear as Lambert mentions Lavellan's gone. Dammit, he really likes her. And Peridot potentially missing as well...add in Childermass definitely missing and Strange is just so thankful that Lambert's still here, especially since now they've got Nightshade to deal with.

Setting the basin on the ground, Strange takes a few steps away from it, holds his hands to his side, and starts murmuring. It only takes a few seconds for the clouds to start to form and over the nearby tents, in the basin, and on Strange. If he minds getting wet, he doesn't show it. It rains for ten or so seconds, long enough to fill up the basin partway, before Strange waves a hand and the weather vanishes.

"Come over here," Strange remarks, as he kneels down on the wet grass. Strange talks as he gestures, drawing glowing lines in the basin. "The result when I scried for Childermass was odd. There was definitely interference of some kind, though I don't know what it was. It—" And then Strange cuts himself off, as he looks down at the basin. The water looks pure black, as if someone's upset an inkwell in the basin.

"It looked exactly like this. Wherever Childermass is, Steven is also."

[whattaprick]

"Fuck," Lambert swears, eloquently and fervently, as he leans over the basin with Strange. There doesn't seem to be much else to say to that. At least when it comes to weighing which is the more urgent problem, it's fairly clear cut.

"If she had him and could find him, I doubt she would have wasted her time with us," Lambert says, thinking out loud. It's not easy, though. "Childermass's spell must have worked. What about the rest?"

[kingsroads]

"I'll look for the rest after you head to the medical tent." And that's said with a pointed look at Lambert's arm. Yes, he can easily scry for the rest of them to see if they're wherever the hell Childermass and Steven are or if they're somewhere else entirely. But there's no use doing that while Lambert's sitting there bleeding and possibly poisoned.

And he's sticking to that. With a wave of Strange's hand, the blackness fades from the basin as he looks up at Lambert, giving his arm a hard stare. You're bleeding. Fix that. "I'll send you a report later."

[whattaprick]

Lambert's jaw sets. Strange is right, and he knows he is -- and he was heading there anyway, so it isn't like he's asking him to do something he wasn't willing to. But he isn't willing to go just yet, not like this.

"Scry for Childermass again," he says, instead, brow furrowing. "Then I'll go."

He trusts Strange when he says he can't find him. But some things... some things he still has to see for himself, to make it real.

[kingsroads]

Strange can't help but give Lambert a confused look: don't you trust his answer?

Still, he'll cast the spell. He makes the same movements as when he looked for Steven, dividing the basin into fourths. At the end of the spell, Strange moves his hand away from the basin. The water inside turns a deep inky black.

"There," he bitterly responds. Man, how Strange wished he had a different answer, but he knows this is what it is. "Now will you go to the medical tent?"

There's an unspoken 'please' in Strange's voice. He's already had one friend kidnapped, let's not have the other be incapacitated by horrible poison.

[whattaprick]

Lambert watches the water swirl with the same impenetrable darkness, which -- well, he couldn't have expected anything different, could he? He doesn't even have to hear the plea in Strange's voice to nod, albeit reluctantly.

"All right," he affirms, quietly. And then -- "I told Syrlya he's in charge of the rest of you. Try not to give him too much of a headache."

[kingsroads]

"I'll be certain to give him hell," Strange gently teases, as he gets back to his feet. There's a weak smile on Strange's face: this is teasing as an attempt to show that see, everything's normal.

"I'll look for the other medical staff as well." After all, if the entirety of the medical staff had vanished...well, that's a horrible sign.