⇨ 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

[npcarnival]

A familiar, Con explains. A creature imbued with a small aspect of Creation, to serve as a guide and a weapon for its Star Guardian.

He used to be my hamster, Noa says.

[criticallyfucked]

Well, that gets his attention. A weapon?

(That's convenient, he'll note sardonically to Noa.)

Does every Star Guardian have a familiar? What about Harbingers?

[npcarnival]

Con nods, but explains that the power to actually transform himself still comes from Noa sharing hers with him. CY-Ren doesn't appear to have a familiar, only the instruments -- but he knows it's possible for Harbingers to share their power with a familiar much like a Guardian does.

[criticallyfucked]

That makes sense. He exists to serve Noa, not the other way around.

Foster will at this point explain that he was the one on the radio asking about other pillars before, and clarifying to her here that coworkers are expecting him to provide some kind of weakness to the Void, but based on what he knows, if there's any weakness to be found, it'd be.... at her level. Hers and and CY-Ren's. Which he knows nothing about.

[npcarnival]

Noa doesn't know what exactly he means by at 'her' level, but if he means if CY-Ren has any weaknesses as an individual that can be exploited ... she isn't sure. A Harbinger can be cleansed or purified of the Void's influence, at least in theory, by turning their Spark back towards life rather than the destruction of it, but she isn't sure how one would go about convincing CY-Ren of that. There's very little Noa knows about what her life was like before she became a pop star and a Harbinger, or what the Void was able to exploit.

She does know CY-Ren's always been a musician, though. But her music used to be quite different.

It felt OOC unless I explained it like this sorry

[criticallyfucked]

[Foster comes THIS CLOSE to telling Noa he doesn't care about CY-Ren's music.

But she just explained Sparks to him, so he has a moment of pause. And then, he can't believe he's asking this:]

Different how.

No--no, wait.

Is there a way for someone else to hear it--for him to hear it? There's actual fucking technology here, is there a... a U-Tunes or an iStream or... or whatever.

[Foster doesn't trust your take, Noa.]

[npcarnival]

It seems like CY-Ren deleted those videos and files a while ago, and her agents are pretty diligent about slapping copyright claims on anything that even has a small clip to get it taken down, so it can't be found online.

But Noa does have some copies of her old songs and videos saved to her laptop at home. She says had some on her phone, too, but it broke when CY-Ren tossed her at the concert, so she'd have to go back there if he wants to hear it.

[criticallyfucked]

Foster is intent on going with her (for much the same reasons he wants to hear it for himself, sorry Noa) but as he then learns about Amethyst and gets assaulted by Herbert on the 16th, he doesn't get back to her about it until the 17th, after trying and failing to get his sister back from Steven.

He's also not alone: Peridot is with him.

[npcarnival]

Noa's been a little busy since all the Harbinger activity started spiking and she's tried to cope with the general chaos, so she'd honestly almost forgotten about the music, but when Foster comes up to her (looking significantly different and with company no less!) she'll be a little surprised but ultimately roll with it.

Her apartment is a tiny studio in a part of town that, for a lack of a better word, could be described as bohemian. Luckily Foster isn't his usual size, or this would be a bit of a squeeze. Inside is a bit of a mess, surprising no one, and it's pretty much what you'd find in any college student's room: strings of light, cutesy decor, photographs of Noa and her friends and classmates that range from group shots, goofy selfies, and more formal pictures of her at some kind of dance performance.

Since they're here to see videos, Noa doesn't waste much time bringing them up on the computer to show them. There are really only a handful -- and it's amateur recordings, for the most part. The songs are CY-Ren's original compositions, and she's usually prominently featured with a variety of instruments in them. Unlike her songs now, these lean heavily to a classical sound, though some of the videos get a little kooky, like someone's effort at experimenting with being avant-garde or edgy, with mixed success.

Still, there's a passion and intensity to the way she plays that makes it hard to look away, and a rawness that isn't really present in her current polished act.