⇨ DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS

[ringleaders]

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?

Comments

[scientificist]

Meanwhile, Herbert shrugs his shoulder to work out the Jasper induced stiffness in it, clutching it with his left hand. Doing actually a startlingly good job at being subtle (years of stealing medical supplies) he shifts the volume of his radio all the way down and switches it on to broadcast. There's not really much else he can contribute at this point.

[npcarnival]

Ignatius stares at her for a few moments later, and then rolls his shoulders in a shrug and stands up. Saying you'll fight is one thing. Actually throwing a punch against him, that'd be another.

So, for now, he turns to Strange and Yuzu. He was going to let them fight between themselves to sort it out, but with Rita here... he'd rather just get a move on. Hm.

"Last chance," he says, looking at Strange. He was the first to offer, after all. He extends his hand, as if to shake. "Do you offer yourself?"

Meanwhile, the veil of fire flickers as Rita focuses on it - but not enough to make it clear whether or not jumping through it would result in being set aflame. The real question is if Herbert will pick up on that and chance it anyway.

[kingsroads]

Strange takes off his messenger bag before offering it to the nearest person to him: which turns out to be Zangetsu. "Drop this off in my trailer, please."

He pauses for a moment, almost held in place by some supernatural force, as he thinks things over. But it only takes a moment to think before Strange decides that nope, the good of everybody else takes precedence over him. And then, turning to Ignatius, Strange swallows his fear, offers a mental apology to Lambert and Childermass, and reaches over to take the faerie's hand. "I do. I offer myself."

He's a mercenary, after all, he's supposed to protect those in the carnival. He just didn't expect it to be this way.

[stompadour]

"You idiot," says Jasper -- although she doesn't really sound worried for Strange's wellbeing so much as just outright derisive. She's absolutely certain she could have fought this guy.

[moonfang]

"E.... eh?" Zangetsu looks at the bag, then at Strange. He frowns and puts it over his shoulder. "... I hope you know what you're doin', Strange."

We'll get you back.

[anti_nonsense]

That idiot.

That completely moronic smoke-for-brains idiot!

The moment Strange reaches out for the handshake, Rita snaps.

"NO!" she screams. An intricate magic circle, drawn in blue light, appears at her feet as she gathers magic power for a spell to attack, to stop this.

[scientificist]

Ok, well, things appear to be going south pretty fast, what with how little he trusts this fae and Rita trying to attack him and potentially aggravating him further, so Herbert honestly doesn't see another option at this point.

He takes a deep breath, puts an arm across his eyes, and attempts to run out through the wall of flame.

RIP Herb.

[fusionactuallysuitsher]

“Rita, THAT’S ENOUGH!” Yuzu shouted, frustrated to high heaven and breaking out the large paper fan to smash her across the face.

“You’ve done nothing to help except make the situation worse!”

[npcarnival]

Regardless of what everyone else is doing, Ignatius's hand is clasping firmly around Strange's, his skin hot like sand in a desert. His nods his head once in understanding.

"You have my respect, wizard," he says. Only a moment later, Strange will spontaneously combust into ash.

For the moment, that ash wafts up and is collected in Ignatius's palm, disappearing. He remains where he is, contemplative, curious if Rita will actually strike him.

Meanwhile, Herbert successfully leaps through the gap, but definitely catches on fire as he does.

[stompadour]

Jasper watches critically, eyes narrowed, as Strange is reduced to cinders in Ignatius's hand. From what was said this shouldn't mean he's dead, but... well, Jasper doesn't really know much about what happens when a human dies. She's just going to assume he's fine.

"... So now what," she says, "now you just leave?"

She does not sound like she really believes that is likely.

[moonfang]

And with that, the contract was sealed. Rita was acting rashly, and Zangetsu grabs her arm, digging his nails into her skin, even as she gets thwapped in the face with a fan.

"Stop. Let them go."

[scientificist]

Herbert is honestly really lucky that his clothing was all made here by Carly due to Prince shenanigans, because his clothing is definitely synthetic fabric at home, and he'd be a lot worse off right now. He pats at his head furiously first, the moment he emerges from the fire, making a strangled, panicked noise.

As he drops down to attempt to smother the more intense flames on his front, he has enough reagent-driven motivation and foresight to yank his radio out of his pocket and toss it to the side to continue picking up what it can rather than just the noise of Herbert attempting to not burn to death.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita takes the fan to the face with a grimace, but doesn't let it stop her casting.

"Me!?" she squawks, indignant. "What about you!? Trying to sacrifice yourself like an idiot... like that'll solve anything!" While screaming back in Yuzu's face, she makes sure to yell loud enough to be sure that Strange gets the message, too.

It's no use. He disappears... but Ignatius remains. She has a chance to strike him.

Zangetsu tries to stop her, which only makes him the next target of her shouting. "And you! How can you let this go!? He's right there! We can still... I can still...!"

For a moment, she meets the faerie's eyes once again, hers blazing with rage. She thrusts out her free arm, unleashes the spell, and the circle at her feet vanishes with a flash, its power instead manifesting as a raging tidal wave that forces its way between the bookshelves and shoots toward Ignatius with great force.

Any allies in its path (between Rita and the faerie) will be mysteriously unaffected by the pressure and force of the wave, but will be left soaking wet regardless.

[fusionactuallysuitsher]

Yuzu sputters As she’s doused in water, but it doesn’t temper her anger.

“I know my limits and if I have to sacrifice myself for my friends I will!” She shouted back.

[npcarnival]

Ignatius is watching for when it happens, but when it does, he doesn't actually raise a hand to defend himself. Instead, he lets Rita hit him with the full force of her spell - he disappears with the water as it crests down the hall, gradually dying out as it travels around a corner.

Ignatius is gone with it, but... You know by now he almost certainly isn't actually gone. He looked like he was smirking as the tidal wave came upon him.

On the bright side, Herbert and the floor are no longer on fire.

[scientificist]

Oh...good. Things are suddenly significantly less hot and painy. Still somewhat hot and painy due to the second degree burns but he's pretty good at ignoring that kind of thing. He staggers up and over to his radio and turns the volume up again.

[stompadour]

Jasper stands there sputtering for a couple of seconds, drenched and massively indignant --

Then she rounds on Rita in anger, turning with such force that some of the water that just soaked her spatters onto the floor from her hair.

"What was that?" she snarls.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita just deflates. The energy seems to drain out of her, the fight in her eyes fading into a tired, empty look.

In the end, she couldn't do anything. Strange was taken and she couldn't stop it. She finally got the nerve to fight, but accomplished nothing.

Faced with Jasper's question, she offers a simple, unenthusiastic answer. "It's magic." What else would it be?

[stompadour]

Jasper's eyes bulge a little. "That isn't--" UGH.

She decides abruptly it isn't worth arguing about this and just turns and starts to stomp away.

Squelch squelch squelch

"You." She hauls Herbert up by the back of his shirt this time. Variety is the spice of life.

[scientificist]

Herbert goes hhhhgggnnggn when Jasper lifts him, the guy with fairly bad burns going on, up by his shirt again. He hates the library. He hates Jasper.

"What?!" he croaks, arms limply at his sides this time.

[stompadour]

Having absolutely no concept or context for what happens to organic flesh and skin when it gets burned, Jasper just assumes that noise is because he is Weak.

"Lapis Lazuli," she says. "I need to know more about what happened to her."

[scientificist]

"Then stop manhandling me," he demands hoarsely, glaring very flatly at Jasper. "I'm not made of light."

His first goal is to get put down. His second goal is to get Jasper to stop asking him things and go the hell back to the Carnival.

[stompadour]

She huffs and unceremoniously lowers him back to the ground.

"Well?"

[moonfang]

It's too late for Zangetsu to try and stop Rita from doing something that, even by his standards, is extraordinarily stupid. There's a woosh of water, some low-key panic in his gut (not again, not ever again--!), and then Ignatius, the ashes that were definitely still Strange, and the circle of flame are gone.

And his clothes, hair, and feathers are sopping wet, as well as Strange's bag. He sure hopes there's nothing that can be ruined in there. He shoots Rita a withering glare, but says nothing to her. He has to get back to camp and make sure Strange's belongings are taken care of. He speaks to no one in particular, almost announcing his inner thoughts. "We should get back to the Carnival and we can start workin' on a plan to get back Strange and Lapis Lazuli there. Clearly it ain't safe out here."

He turns to look the direction they came and what little color he has in his face drains. Now, he actually does address those present.

"Uh. Hate to interrupt, but..." he points down the corridor he'd come from, which just a few minutes ago showed a clear path back to the carnival, all familiarity and light. Now -- it was black as pitch. "That... is different than it was."

[scientificist]

"You have--" he manages to start before Zan interrupts, and Herbert looks, following the line of his arm to the now pitch-black hallway. "I'm sure it's...some sort of lighting damage." He sounds a little less strained, now that his shirt isn't taut and actively grating on his burns.

That said, he turns right back to Jasper.

"We found a pond in the library with, I assume, some sort of naked water fae in it. She dragged Lapis in with...prehensile seaweed hair--I made a sword and attempted to come to the rescue, but by the time I found where they were located underwater, they. Kissed? And Lapis disappeared--perhaps destabilised, as you said. That's all I know!"