lostcarnival | ⇨ DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS

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⇨ DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS

Who: Anyone out in the library.
When: Day 59
Where: The Athenaeum
What: Towards the end of the visit, we are visited by a series of worrisome NPCs, who may or may not be illusions. There will be at least 5 NPC toplevels posted overall, all happening in a similar time period ICly (in rough chronological order), so not everyone needs to be in every thread.
Warnings: Possibility of very real danger to anyone who participates. Remember that Sans has told everyone to travel in groups, so if you aren't, you'll probably get a scolding later.

TURNING THE PAGE↴

As the carnival continues to explore the Athenaeum in the pursuit of more information about the legendary Miracles, the tension is thick with the knowledge that the Summer Court could be in pursuit any day now. On Day 59, a series of threatening encounters will begin manifesting - but are they real, or an illusion?

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Peridot tolerates Roman carrying her like that for all of two seconds before she starts chittering and squirming to be let go, bapping the dog in the nose with her wings. "Let go of me you stupid-- RRRRRHRHRHGH--" She starts to glow, and changes back into her regular form so she can just. Fall out of Roman's mouth, before struggling to her back to her feet. The blood's all gone now that she's changed, but she still looks pretty messed up. Almost like she just got pierced with hundreds of tiny ice shards!

AND... Did he just mention The Count--? Peridot snaps her attention over to Frost and the crow, and she shudders. Dots are starting to connect, but fear for her friend is keeping keeping her from putting all the pieces together. She can't worry about the Winter Court right now! She looks between Yuya and Gon both.

"On the radio-- Lapis is in danger, something dragged her underwater and-- she's not coming back up," she babbles quickly, voice cracking.

Edited 2018-05-13 02:48 (UTC)

Presumably, Yuuya has this-that's the initial thought at least. Gongenzaka doesn't want to take his eyes off Frost- looking toward Peridot and the others means doing that and-

And then the crow comes, and Gongenzaka practically feels his blood run cold. Yuuya's guess is as good as his- Crows and Frost? At the very least that's the Winter Court, which means both courts are there, and-

He bites back a growl, and accepts that he's not going to be looking where he's talking. Not without help- Marishi is appearing at his side again, dust cascading from the leaves to take form before she speaks. "If something dragged her under, and it was no 'story', then it means we have greater issues at hand," the cheetah explains, her tone betraying Gongenzaka's worry. "Peridot-do you know exactly where Lapis was?" There is a pause, before Marishi adds- "...It might be easier to grab her when she's calm, you know." Nice to see you though.

While the daemon speaks, Gongenzaka takes his radio from in the bushes-still transmitting, and this time closer to his face for him to speak.

"...As those listening have no doubt realized at this point; Nightshade is not the only one here. Fae from both courts are present-including 'Frost', as well as at least one crow." And who knows 'who' or 'what' that crow WAS. "Both were fighting over a book. The book no longer exists," he adds, grimacing and continuing to look toward Frost. Waiting-waiting, to see if he intends to do anything else. "...Unless any among our number can salvage text from melted material... ...More importantly, Yuuya and myself are uninjured- Peridot is..."

"Slightly."

Well, 'slightly' injured it is. So there's that.

He can go on about more later. For now- Frost-watch from his eyes, and Peridot with the other set of eyes. But at least he's finally releasing the button on the radio.

Now people can do the right thing, and Yell At Them.

Frost floats there, staring at them, as if he's waiting for them to do something. Instead, they just start talking among themselves, as if the danger has somehow passed. It's almost comical.

"You're not very bright, are you?" Frost asks, cocking his head slightly. Then, he moves too quickly for sight, zooming in a circle around the three of them, and leaving an icy trail behind.

Appearing overhead, he snaps his fingers. A wall of ice emerges from the floor, boxing the four of them inside of it and extending into a crystalline dome overhead. The temperature drops.

"Pleasure making your acquaintance!" he calls through the ice, and then zooms away, leaving them inside an icey prison.

"I, the man Gongenzaka, am looking at you, am I not?" the deputy snarls in reply, only to stiffen.

After all- it appears he suddenly isn't. "SHHFFFF-T!"

"Oh... ....So much for multi-tasking," Marishi grumbles, watching her other half stiffen further with irritation. Things are not going well. They are not going well at all, and now it's looking a lot like a number of his mistakes have piled on on top of the other and- "Deep breaths..! You could at least see how thick it is!"

The radio is clipped back into his jacket, and he groans into one hand. "MNNHHhhHHhhh..." At least he's fluffy and generally warm.

And, speaking of that, he's heading toward Yuuya and Peridot-specifically Yuuya. "...It may be wise to get on my back, for now... ...You are hardly dressed for this sort of chill..." he grumbles, cracking a few knuckles in anticipation of what they should probably try next.

Roman, who has been just about to make another spirited attempt at dragging Peridot away, begins to whimper upon seeing the wall form. They jump up, clawing against the ice with their paws, making upset skeleton dog sounds, punctuated by worried howls.

"Hey!" Yuya takes less issue with being ignored and more with the ice wall forming around them. He rushes forward, pressing his hands against it as he watches Frost fly off.

Well, he didn't verbally confirm it, but Yuya's pretty sure that crow has to do with the Count. Yuya scowls, smacking his fist against the ice once. It doesn't do anything, of course, so he leans back angs looka at Gongenzaka.

"I'm more worried about getting out of here." He looks to Peridot after that. "Sorry... um, you can breathe fire right?"

Not to doubt Gongenzaka's punching skills, but he's hoping there's a weakness that still applies here.

Peridot is scarcely listening to any of them. Not the humans, not the daemon, not the skeleton dog. No, she is much too busy trying to process just how much she fucking. loathes. PIXIES.

None of this was supposed to happen! She wasn't supposed to get caught up in some stupid petty squabble between two lesser lackeys of the Summer and Winter courts! She just came out here because she wanted to help her friend, because coming to Lapis' aid was-- is-- literally all she cares about. And now Lapis is still out there somewhere (or so Peridot thinks), probably terrified out of her mind somewhere, while she's trapped here inside a shitty snow globe, having just thoroughly been owned by yet another garbage fae. Considering all this, maybe it's a bit more understandable why the engineer is just standing there in deadly silence, her posture rigid, shoulders rising and falling shakily as a barely contained temper tantrum bubbles under the surface.

Yuya asks a simple question. Peridot politely responds by letting out a long, inarticulate goblin shriek of abject fury before morphing into an acid-green dragon the size of a Honda CRV, launching herself head-first at the ice wall, ramming it once with her horns and then slashing with heated claws and blasting it with the most powerful fire she can muster in a maelstrom of Righteous Friendship Rage.

On the bright side, she will start the beginnings of a crack in the ice wall with that righteous fury. On the not so good side, her fire breath is going to kind of fill the cage with a flash flood of heat and flame.

Hey, she's making progress, though!

Edited 2018-05-13 04:36 (UTC)

"You can worry about that while you're warm," Marishi scolds, Gongenzaka himself snorting and pulling Yuuya up. He even goes for Roman-

"Come-" he starts, gently grabbing for the dog at the wall, "It will be best for us to work at escape together, without exhausting-"

He doesn't get to finish that sentence. What happens instead, is a large amount of the space being taken by the Instant Dragon, followed by the wave of heat that has him shouting in shock as his daemon scatters. "A-AUHH!!" Instinctively, he curls around the others- a not so difficult task thanks to changes. "P-PERIDOT..! YOUR FLAMES AFFECT THOSE AROUND YOU..!!"

PLEASE CONTAIN THE PROGRESS FOR A MINUTE, HE IS A TREE

Yuya tries to pull away at first, done with being manhandled for now. He wants to see if he can do something to help them get out, first, since Peridot's friend is in danger.

Then she transforms into a huge dragon, and Yuya has to press against the wall so he doesn't get squished between Gongenzaka and Peridot in their ice cage. And then, well, he did ask about the fire but he didn't expect her attempt to be so uncontrolled, and neither Yuya or Gon have any natural resistance to that.

So he yelps and tries to duck away, panicking as he feels the heat come close. "Stop, don't set us on fire!"

For a moment, Peridot actually looks absolutely incensed at being told to stop, her green eyes flashing angrily as she glances back towards the two of them. For a moment, she doesn't even care. Lapis needs her, she has somewhere to be. Nothing is more important than melting down this stupid wall and breaking free from here.

She does stop, though. Asserting self-control over her resentment takes some doing, but she's not a completely inconsiderate monster, so she's not going to roast two fellow carnival members and Sans' pet dog just because she's angry and desperate. Still, she doesn't look at all remorseful, and just stands there without uttering a word, breathing heavily, ribcage heaving with the cadence of her panting.

Stupid organics and their stupid flammability.

"Hahh....hahhhh..." Slowly, Gongenzaka uncurls, patting Roman, and checking over Yuuya- "...Yuuya....are you alright..?" he asks, before standing. Regardless of the answer, he moves closer to Peridot-eventually placing his metal hand at her shoulder.

"...If we are to get out of here, we must act calmly," he warns, before taking the hand back. "With FOCUS..!"

And with that in mind, he punches the ice. "AND DETERMINATION..!" And again, with his normal hand. "Yuuya!" he calls back, bringing the metal hand to the ready once more. "If you have your ring...I, the man Gongenzaka, believe it may prove useful here..!"

One more punch, for good measure-or rather, an open palm strike. His plan? Employ the repulsor! (And hope really hard that his lunar solstice belt helps keep his footing when it blasts the ice, honestly.)

Roman whimpers some more and shies away from the fire until Peridot lets up, but they're quick to get back to the task at hand when she pauses. Roman throws themself against the ice again, trying to do what they can to help.

Thankfully, more help is arriving. Since hearing Gongenzaka's original message, Sans has had enough time to figure some things out.

It will first come across to the guys in the cage as a series of increasingly loud and thunderous bangs against the stone floor, getting closer and closer. It's not a little skeleton man that shows up to answer Roman's calls. Instead, it's the ten foot tall skeleton beast.

Sans slows to a stop as he sees the cage, spotting Peridot and the others inside. He looms over it, inspecting the thing without words, as speaking in this form can be difficult.

Meanwhile Roman yips happily.

Yuya uncurls himself as the flames die down and he's no longer at risk of being set on fire. Gongenzaka makes it to comfort her, first, so Yuya only gives her a silent, sympathetic look.

And then looks down at his ring, confused. "Huh? You want me to punch the wall?" He's not sure how useful it is for successive punches, but he doesn't want to leave them to do all the work. And it is a magic ring.

So he slams his fist against the wall, cringing as the impact goes back through his arm. Thankfully, that's about when Sans shows up so instead of continues to fruitlessly smack on it, he stops and peeks up at him through the cages. He recognizes him like this, from the breaking balcony. "Sans!"

The dragon growls disconsolately at the reassurances offered to her. She doesn't want anyone's pity, she just wants to get out of here!

Aggravated, she jumps right back into the escape effort without responding; with fire-breathing off the table, she focuses instead on slamming into the wall at full force with her horns, and slashing at the crack with those heated claws again. Her pace is just as frenzied as before, but with even more anger behind it now. She's so focused on her efforts, she doesn't even notice Sans approaching until Yuya says something.

Split-second kneejerk instinct upon seeing the Warden in that form has Peridot thinking that things are about to get so much worse, because the last time she saw that skeleton beast was during one of the most traumatic incidents of her time at the carnival. Of course, Sans isn't brainwashed anymore (she assumes,) so the fear is short lived.

"Quit staring and teleport us out of her already you idiot!" Peridot snaps at him, lashing her tail like an angry cat.

Hey! It wasn't pity! It was...well. It was something. He does grimace when Yuuya's ring doesn't gain much purchase however. "Mnhh...perhaps a greater charge- though, how is your hand..?" he adds, ears flicking. "If it already had enough build..."

There's no continuing that statement-it's about when Sans arrives, and so Gongenzaka stares, watching as the skeleton inspects the dome. "He may be unable to," he notes to Peridot, crossing his arms. "This is already rather obviously 'magical' ice..! Unless you feel your flames should not have simply melted a hole earlier? We are making progress," he notes, bracing to make another repulsor-charged slam, "But counting on that may be unwise..!"

He's going to feel super dumb if teleporting works by the way Sans. Super Dumb.

"What he said," Sans rumbles, his voice raspy and low. Trying to snatch them right out of the globe isn't working, and he's pretty sure it wouldn't even if he was in his regular form. He lifts up a great big paw, dragging his claws down the surface. It doesn't make a huge dent, but its a start.

He can already see the beginning of a crack from Peridot's claws. He'd use his breath weapon, but he's got the same problem she does - he doesn't want to toast everyone inside by accident. Sans tries putting his massive jaws around the ice to crunch it, and when he can't quite get purchase, he takes a few steps back.

Giving himself some physical momentum, he swings his tail at the ice full force. Slivers of ice shatter from its surface, and the crack widens. So, naturally, he does it a few more times as Peridot works.

Yuya shakes his hand. That used up all the charge for not more than a scratch, so... he's pretty sure it's not going to work.

He moves as best as he can in the crowd to stay out of the way of Sans and Periot and Gongenzaka chipping them free.

Stars. Of course teleporting won't work. Why would anything actually go right today!?!

Peridot continues her assault from the inside with a single-minded determination, aiming for more or less the same spot that Sans and Gon are aiming. Her talons are aching, but she refuses to slow down, because each second that passes is another second where her friends are out there in danger somewhere.

It takes what feels like ages, but a gap does start to form in the wall. The second she spots this, Peridot leaves off to take a step back, and shouts, "OUT OF MY WAY!"

That's all the warning anyone else is getting before she charges at it one last time with her horns at ramming speed. She recoils backwards from the blow, but the impact is enough: The remaining layer of ice cracks and then shatters, leaving a sizable hole in one side of the dome.

Peridot doesn't have to say it twice-Gongenzaka is out of the way, and rather quickly making sure there's some space between himself, Yuuya, and any ice shards that result in Peridot's charge. The moment a hole appears, he nods. "Saaah-! Let us exit, immediately..!" If Yuuya doesn't move fast enough, he's grabbing him-same with Roman. "No doubt the others still outside the Carnival will need assistance as well..!"

Let's move it people! ~~Even. If they don't know. Where to go.~~

(Well he Could try that soul tracking deal once they're out, he supposes...)

Roman lets itself be hauled out by Gongenzaka, jumping away to pounce on Sans's leg as soon as it has the chance. Sans takes a moment to bump his massive head against Roman's much smaller one, hunkering down to the ground to be more on level with the rest.

"No," he rumbles. "We go back to the carnival. Now."

Yuya wastes no time slipping out of the ice cage, hopping on one foot as he clears over the debris. He hooks his elbow around his staff as he grabs his radio and dials it up as he switches to the public channel.

He won't take either side of the argument, having reasons to agree with both. But there's still clear worry in his face regardless. "Everyone is, right?"

If anyone happens to be looking back at Peridot at all, they'll see the sour look that creeps over her face upon hearing Sans' orders.

At first, it looks like she's walking out to join the discussion like a sensible, level-headed person might. The hole is a little bit too small to be comfortable for a dragon to fit through, but she makes it work with some effort, tucking her wings in tight and wriggling through the gap.

The reason why she doesn't just change back into her regular smaller form in order to get free becomes clear soon enough. The moment she's out from the ice cage, she goes from zero to twenty in the blink of an eye, whirling around and using her claws to bound up the side of the dome, hoping to get high enough to where she can, hopefully, be out of Sans' immediate reach. Barring any interference, she'll take off and ditch the whole group.

She is not going back to the carnival without Lapis and Steven.

Sans doesn't even try to grab her. For a hot second he things she might actually be cooperating, but then... nope. There she goes.

He slumps even closer to the floor, his mental exhaustion apparent. Blue and gold flames lick at his teeth as he lets out a sigh big enough to make your hair ruffle.

"Of course," he growls, as Roman whimpers and prods his face with its nose. "No prob, buddy. Any time."

Edited 2018-05-14 17:07 (UTC)

Gon? Gon does not argue. He certainly pauses, perhaps considering protest...but between the ice, between what Sans couldn't do, they should definitely regroup at the Carnival at the least. So he nods, and-

"Mng- AUUH-!! PERIDOT!!"

DAMMIT STOP FLYING AWAY- (aaaaand she's gone.)

"...I, the man Gongenzaka...suppose it is the three of us, then..."

Though, one off on their own, especially... "....One hopes she will be able to clear her head before encountering anything, given her frustrated state..."

...especially with a laser-guided focus...

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hippocarnival - 2018-05-14 19:29 (UTC) - Expand

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