lostcarnival | ⇨ SPACE OLYMPICS

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⇨ SPACE OLYMPICS

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 30 - Day 44
Where: The carnival, Zargon, and Olympic Spaceship
What: Things return back to normal as the carnival performs for aliens of all sorts at the Space Olympics. Or at least, as normal as it can be when you've got an underfunded and falling-apart spaceship hovering over a deadly planet.
Warnings: Sports and people's inability to do them.

REACH FOR THE STARS↴

At first glance, the Space Olympics seem marvelous. Aliens from all over the universe, of all shapes and sizes have joined together in an intergalactic display of teamwork and sportmanship. What could be more inspiring than that? It's only when you hang around for a bit that you notice things aren't exactly in tip-top shape.

► OLYMPIC SPACESHIP: This is where most of the events are held. It's a massive spaceship spanning hundreds of miles and consisting of multiple floors. Teleportation discs and space public transport can take you anywhere on the spaceship in a blink of an eye. It has almost every amenity an athlete can think of: multiple gyms, practice arenas, saunas, etc. Likewise, there are plenty of things for civilians and spectators: merchandise stands, shopping malls, grocery stores, and television screens everywhere so people can watch the event. Shuttles to and from Zargon arrive on a regular basis.

► ZARGON: Facility wise, Zargon itself is less impressive than Olympic Spaceship. The carnival and the athlete's village comprise most of the habitable areas. Both are concealed underneath a large biodome, the main thing making the area livable. Enterprising Zargonites have set up stands that let people explore outside of the biodome. Rent a spacesuit and you too can enjoy Zargon's natural wonders, such as the distant red plateaus and the stunning solar winds. Just try and stay away from the toxic mold, naturally occurring pockets of hallucinogenic gas, and ten foot tall Zargon Death Flytrap.

► 1980s TRAINING MONTAGE: Since carnival members can only attempt to medal in one event, why not try different sports to see what that one event is? There's equipment for all sorts of sports: gymnastics, swimming, biathalon, snowboarding, etc. They've even somehow brought space horses up here for Space Dressage! There's also equipment for sports that carnival members might not have even known existed: Space Gymkata, Space Pooh Sticks, Space Limbo Skating, etc. The sky's the limit!

► A BIT OF A BUDGET SNAFU: The Space Olympics is kind of falling apart. After performance week, the carnival is drafted to help out and keep the Space Olympics running as smoothly as possible. This means fixing buildings, breaking up fights, helping in the kitchen, trying to sell merch, etc. If there's a feasible problem, the carnival members will be drafted to help fix it. The biggest problem of all is the multiple mechanical failures: artificial gravity stops working, temperatures on the ship rapidly shift from hot to cold, and the snow machines for Space Slopestyle won't turn off.

► PERFORMANCE: Performance week will start early this stop, to try and get everyone back into the swing of things after the chaos of Wismuth. Athletes from the village roam the carnival, taking in the sights and sounds. A lot of them haven't ever seen anything like the magic of the carnival and it's workers and will proceed to ask question after question about how all of this works: turns out that sci-fi and fantasy don't crossover as much as one would think. Still, don't be alarmed when you turn the corner and there's a Hutt trying his hand at test your strength.

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"Nothing?" Tyki says with a bit of disbelief. A man as interesting as Strange is someone he would've thought would have a little more meat on him other than straight up magician. He snorts a little like he's still trying to consider it until Strange fills him in on the finer details.

He hangs his torso a little lower now that he is more interested. He's listening intently because of how he speaks of it and he mimics his own thoughts into words, "Discovered? Someone just come and fetch you?" It's a question that is fair according to Tyki. After all he had been discovered when he had turned into a Noah. He wants to ask about his father in more detail but like a good conman he picks up on that tightness in his voice, "Sounds almost counterproductive. The Earl uses his family well. My brother for political affairs and I myself for public views. It keeps our family running smoothly."

"Not precisely. I only learned I was a magician when a man under a hedge told me I was one. He sold me a spell and told me a prophecy as well, though I confess I don't remember all of it." For the better, in Strange's mind. Nobody wants to have their life guided by a set of words that may or may not be true.

Strange listens as Tyki explains about his life. And really, that makes sense. As much as he enjoys talking with Tyki, Strange really can't see the man taking an interest in anything political in the first place.

"My mother died when I was young," Strange explains. "As I have no siblings, it's easier to keep the family running smoothly when it's only two people instead of however many siblings you have."

"My apologies if I heard you incorrectly but did you say a man under the hedge?" because that is the only thing he heard before he had to try to process everything else. Sold him a spell was something else that was strange. Learning magic instead of inheriting wasn't uncommon in his world but as a Noah that gave up everything the moment he became one.

If he had to make due with political affairs at the carnival he could learn to adapt but willingly walking into a situation like that without a purpose would bore him to death. It was the nature of the con that allowed him to blend in with the public and win over the crowd. His brother sowed the seeds of doubt and war that led to more wars, more deaths, more loved ones screaming out in pain for their dearly departed, and thus more Akuma from the Earl granting them their wish. Everyone in his family had a role even if not publicly like him and his brother.

"The Earl still directs our family as head of household. All twelve of us." Which brought his adopted family to a total of Thirteen.

Twelve though? Strange can't help but frown a little. He can't even picture what it would be like to have twelve other people in the household. Chaotic, perhaps. Definitely loud. Now he's the one trying to process everything else and accidentally ignoring Tyki's question.

Until Strange realizes oh wait, Tyki did ask a question. He should probably answer that.

"That's correct. He was a vagrant of some sorts but the spell he sold me worked, so I can't judge. And I'm sorry, did you say twelve?"

He makes an amused noise at the fact Strange learned his first spell from some vagrant in a hedge but then Tyki is very much aware of his own world. Anyone could potentially be a Noah in the future just as Innocence could pick someone frail, young, old, common or noble. It didn't matter. It was always chaotic and loud. Dinner was always rambunctious. It's why he kind of misses them the more he eats alone or often finds himself with time on his hands.

"Yes. There's the Earl, my brother, my niece, the twins, and a handful of others," Though his grin falters lightly just for a moment, "Sorry, I made a mistake. There is only Eleven at the moment." He forgot for a moment about Skinn and his death.

Ah. Only eleven. Strange winces slightly. He understands what Tyki's inferring: one of his family members must have died.

"I'm terribly sorry for your loss." And he is. Strange isn't a stranger to loss—he wouldn't wish that on anyone. "Do you wish to talk about it or shall we turn the conversation to happier matters?" Either option is fine with him. After all, they aren't talking about his dead relative. Whatever is most comfortable for Tyki is the best.

He breathes out lightly in his current restless nature and he just keeps following Strange as they walk, "Thank you. That means a lot to me." Forget the fact that they were kind of trying to murder the one who killed him.

War is war and family will always be family. "I don't mind either. I actually miss them terribly." More so recently than before. Much like Strange loved to talk about his wife, Tyki loved to talk about his family, "If they were here now my niece would likely be glued to my side. I don't know if it is harder because they aren't here or if it is the fact that they aren't missing me right now." Time shenanigans in other words.

The further they get into the spaceship, the more aliens there are milling around. And Strange...honestly doesn't know where they're going. As such, he'll follow Tyki if Tyki makes any turns or goes into any rooms, but otherwise, he'll just continue walking for the sake of walking.

"I'd like to know more about your niece," Strange says, with a little nod. "That is, if you don't mind telling me. What is she like?"

He's got a feeling Tyki won't mind talking about her. It can be reassuring to talk about those who aren't here and those who people miss, especially when they'd be as close as Strange is to his wife and Tyki is to his niece.

It's better this way, for him at least, if they keep walking no matter where they are going. If they ended up in unrestricted areas, then so be it. He could always claim he didn't know where he was going and wouldn't even have to lie. For now he's just watching as he always does. Subtle shift changes, keys being handed over, passing leaked conversation...

"Excitable, full of energy, always ready to play. She's rather sweet," when she's not being sadistic as a Noah, "and despite being in her younger years she still retains a child like wonder." He doesn't know what to do with his hands right now and he'll fiddle with of one the side bags from Wismuth he's procured and wrapped around one leg. Pulling out confectionary bon bons, he leans down to show them to Strange, "Also, she loves candy and can be rather temperamental without a piece or two at hand. It's why I always carry something even if she isn't here, just in case she does show up."

Edited 2018-04-01 01:30 (UTC)

"She sounds lovely," Strange says, with a nod. And she does! A young girl who adores sweets and is full of energy, that's checking off all the points for stereotypical small child. Strange is picturing a small little five year old, probably with curly hair and wearing a big floofy dress.

Not the sort of person one would like to see at the carnival but, then again, the Ringmaster has brought in stranger candidates.

"Out of curiosity, how old is she?"

"It makes her easy to shop for," he says in a joking manner. "Still likes dolls, playing outside, clings to me like a bat." Strange would likely be one of the first he'd want to meet her. Besides himself. It would be hard not to hug her and she would be a little baffled at why he's clinging so tightly.

He looks to the side, like he's recalling memory, because honestly he has to remember just how old Road plays herself off to be. Realistically she's older than any of the other Noah as she was one of the only to survive the Fourteenth's attack. "Early teens."

Early teens... "So she hasn't started eyeing up the boys yet?" Strange teases, giving Tyki a bit of a shithead grin. Now that will be interesting. Uncle Tyki, dealing with his lovely niece when she starts doing things like 'going through puberty' and 'paying attention to men.' It probably would go fairly smoothly (at least, so Strange thinks. He has no idea how easy or not teenage girls are to deal with). But, he can give Tyki shit about this, so he's going to.

"You'll have to decide what you're going to do when she starts courting someone."

"While she does have that child like enthusiasm that doesn't stop her from acting like a normal teenager," he says dryly, "If she fancies someone, she definitely lets them know." She could be a proper lady sometimes when she had to be but kissing an Exorcist? Even that threw him off guard.

He internally shudders thinking about his brother suddenly, "You mean, I'll have to decide on where to bury the body once her Father finds out."

That shithead grin's still on his face as Strange continues to tease. "Let me guess: father wouldn't take too kindly to the idea of his little girl all grown up? Or father wouldn't take too kindly to a certain choice of suitor?"

That first part is not something Strange ever saw people experience, for obvious reasons. Still, he's heard enough complaining and read enough books to know that daddy's little girl is definitely a thing. But the second part? Hoo boy does he know about dad not liking the person you're trying to court. He's got more sympathy for Tyki's niece should that be the case.

He has it right. Road is definitely a daddy's girl. Her father gave her everything. In fact, he married Road's mother just to have her as a daughter because she was so cute. As the Noah of Desire, he valued beautiful things. Strange's grin is there alright and he'll tuck those bon bons back into his satchel before he continues.

"You could say the answer was both. He's fiercely protective of his daughter and as his brother he trusts me with her. It would take a well suited, rather obedient man to ever get him to relent." And he means obedient to the core.

"Obedient, hmm? This just means she's going to bring home a terror of a spouse." Well suited, rather obedient, Tyki's brother is looking for someone totally whipped to date Road. If there's any sense of humor in the universe, this means that Road's going to date someone who her father absolutely loathes.

"I'd love to meet your family one day," Strange remarks, grinning still. "They sound wonderful."

They also sound caring, loving, and simply functional. And a functional family is something that Strange really doesn't have any experience with.

For the unobservant person passing him, that runs right into his leg, he'll mostly ignore but to lift a long leg and glance down at him. He quickly scrambles back as Tyki leans down to assist him in getting back up. Hmm, so much for that.

"Well, she's already tried bringing home the enemy. Ambushed him with a kiss upon his arrival. Thankfully her father was not around to see that." Shame they had to try to kill him but Road's fascination with Allen Walker was different in itself. "You'll likely be the first I'd introduce them to. That is if they don't run into you first."

Compare it to the Black Order, which is suppose to be the 'saviors' of the world from the dreaded Noah, his family was the stable one. They were a family dictated by only the Earl. But then again, Tyki has only talked about his small internal family aka the ones usually in the public view and represented the family. The twins were a nightmare, with make up, guns, and quite the months. Fiidora was a strange man with a parasitic tongue. Then there was the Earl, shrouded in mystery, that could either be seen wearing a fat clown suit with a large grin or looked just as normal as the rest of them.

The idea of meeting Tyki's family is interesting. But the only reason why they'd show up at the carnival is if they signed on in the first place. And that's another interesting point. Because honestly? Strange can't think of anyone else in his world who'd willingly sign onto something like this. Oh, he can think of a few who would be tricked in, but to willingly make a contract with a fae, after all the trouble that faeries caused them back home? Yeah, won't happen.

"Barring accidents, do you think any of them would sign on in the first place? I know it takes a certain sort of person to leave the entirety of what they know for a year and a day." And Strange honestly has no idea if Tyki's family were that sort to begin with.

Strange can hear that constant tapping of his legs and the way it starts to slow the more he thinks about his question. Would any of his family actually sign up? No, probably not and that kind of depresses him. He doesn't want to be here as much as he is enjoying himself at times. It's a much needed break from a conflicted situation and while he does have a goal at home, to which they do too, he doesn't know if any of them would linger.

"If they did it would be to keep me company," he answers plainly, very aware of how lonely he feels at times like this when he is use to being surrounded by his family. Sure, he could go out and travel alone for long extended periods of time but there was always a family member one step away via the Ark. Without that connection, he feels a sense of loss, "But to answer your question, no."

Ah. He knows that feeling. That's the feeling of someone who desperately years to see their family and their loved ones, yet is acutely aware that might not happen. Strange knows that feeling damn well and he knows just how much it sucks.

"There's no way in hell Arabella would sign on for something like this," Strange calmly remarks, with a gentle little smile. She wouldn't, Norrell wouldn't, Flora wouldn't, Grant and any of his soldier friends certainly wouldn't. It's an explanation and Strange trying to empathize with Tyki. "It's a bit depressing to realize you won't see your loved ones for a year and possibly longer."

But it is a bit nice to know you aren't the only person in the carnival who feels that way.

The Earl might have a reason but he couldn't justifying convincing them to stay. Tyki believed in choice and it had been his decision to take a chance on the Ringmaster even if he lost. He can't ask them to do the same.

"I am connected to my family more than most are. If one of us dies, we'd feel it. Across realms, distances, worlds, if I were to die, they would know and not even have a chance of understanding." He looks at Strange again when he starts to talk about his wife. He did like hearing about her and only caught a brief glance of them together at the Manor, "The thought can make a man rather depressed indeed especially those like you and I that love our family more than anything else in the world. I would give up a lot to protect them including everything I have."

Strange nods at Tyki's assessment. Jonathan Strange is a man who found new and inventive ways to break himself just for the mere thought of bringing Arabella back from the dead. He intensely knows what Tyki means about giving up everything he has to protect someone. "It's the same with me."

There's a small pause before Strange looks up at Tyki, giving him a wry little grin. "It seems we're more alike than either of us first thought."

Oh, there's still some obvious differences in personality and backstory. But two magicians who pride themselves on their power and would burn the world to save their loved ones? That's similar enough to comment on.

"It's why I have to survive, no matter the cost. If I died with them, that would be a different story." He says this because Strange is aware of war and the consequences it brings. He's spoke before of Allen while in those hot springs and just what the enemy could do. He doesn't expect him to understand but in war it didn't matter how wrong or right you were.

"Even for us, our family wouldn't sign up. It's not as if time is passing for them," which is said with no blame or any lack of understanding. It's hard to believe at first and even had his doubts. The Ringmaster's words had been soothing to know that he would not be missing out or leaving them to wonder. At least Strange's words brings a small grin back of his face, "I think you're right."

Of course he's right. Strange doesn't say that but instead gives Tyki a small little smug smile. "And I know that if my loved one showed up here, I'd try my hardest to prevent her from signing on. This place—"

But what Strange was going to say ('this place is too dangerous, I don't want to see her hurt') gets cut off by the slightly crumbling infrastructure of the Space Olympics.

A loud grinding sound interrupts Strange talking. It sounds like metal up against metal and it's coming from the walls of the spaceship. Strange can't help it: he frowns before asking, very confused, "What the devil was that?"

He was expecting him to say he was right because he knows how Strange is by now. Unlike Arabella, his family could take care of themselves. They were all made for battle and those that weren't had their own dangerous abilities to bypass that.

He raises his head at the sound and they are not the only ones to notice it. Others turn their heads around them, momentarily distracted from the Drider's appearance, and he looks in the direction of the walls. "I don't know but it almost sounds like something grinding." Which in his defense, he doesn't know this level of technology that wall, "Or something coming loose and scraping against something else."

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