lostcarnival | ⇨ DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS

Entry tags:

⇨ 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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He keeps holding on. No matter how much the pressure builds, no matter how much it makes him want to quit, even with the help of Creation, he clings to Yuya and keeps straining against the tethers. He doesn't know what this will amount to, but it's all he has.

It's an arduous process, but one by one, the tendons of vine break. Each one hurts, even with his pain being soothed, but neither of them quit.

His will is starting to waver by the time they get down to the last one. But, that doesn't matter when it finally snaps and Steven is suddenly set loose, plunging forward with all of that released momentum. He smacks into Yuya's chest and stays their, his hands still buried in Yuya's shirt.

He lets out a gasp as its finally over, and vines left to drift in the ocean water, a short distance away.

"Did... Did we do it?" he asks, afraid to look back.

Yuya grunts as they're thrown back as all that tension is released, and Yuya feels the tension in him release too. Maybe it's just a dream but... in a dream, they were stronger than the Rose Queen. Maybe it doesn't have to stay a dream.

"We did it." Yuya smiles wide, carefully settling his arm around Steven's shoulders, trying to avoid obviously wounded areas. "You did great. See? I knew you were strong enough." Strong enough to bear the pain and give Yuya the edge he needed.

Yuya's gaze drifts up, relieved.

"I don't know what to do now," Steven mumbles, still resting against Yuya's chest. He feels more mentally clear than he did before - the ocean water isn't bothering him at all, whereas before he had to concentrate to be able to talk. It just makes it obvious how deep her hold is on him, with her controlling the way he thinks even when she isn't directly forcing his actions.

"When I wake up... she's going to do this to me again. I don't want it to be for nothing," he says. He's not being fatalistic, here. He's almost certain that she will get into his head again, and there's no preventing that. What he does want to do is try to use the time he has well.

Yuya furrows his brow, but continues to let their bodies just float peacefully through the water.

"It's not for nothing. You know you can beat it, now. You have to remember that, and Creation will be there with you too." If it's been protecting him up until this point, surely it'll continue to do so. That's what Gongenzaka asked for.

"... What is she doing to you?" He noticed the changes, but it's only now that there's the space to talk about it. Her hold is deeper than just locking him up, isn't it?

Steven looks at his own hand when asked that, processing how it's still all messed up, even in his dreams. There is a faint feeling of revulsion when he sees what's going on with his body, not because he thinks it looks hideous, but because it's come on so fast and was forced upon him so violently. He's never been as uncomfortable with any carnival changes as he has been with this.

"She put something in me, and... it's been making everything that happened with the Blue Rose worse. It's been doing stuff to me all night, and until Creation showed up it hurt so bad I almost couldn't deal with it."

Since then, Creation has basically been providing him full-time painkillers and soothing whatever wounds form as a result of the changes. it doesn't stop them from happening, though.

"I don't even know why, or what she wants," he says, starting to tear up again. It's been really hard, and he's had no one he can talk to about it. "She just says stuff about how the Rose's influence was good for me, and how she needed it... I can't control any of it."

So she's using Steven to get to the rose... Yuya doesn't really understand the technical parts of it, or even what the Blue Rose did to him originally. But he doesn't need to in the face of how much agony it's causing Steven. Something hot and furious starts to boil in Yuya's chest, but he swallows and forces himself to keep that feeling buried deep for now.

"I'm sorry." Sorry Steven is suffering, and also sorry he didn't do more to stop this from happening in the first place. He can't help a pang of guilt, remembering Joker's admonishment for their lack of plan, for his inability to forcibly free Steven from her grasp. "When we free you, I bet the Ringmaster can help."

When, not if. Yuya refuses to accept a failure, here. "She doesn't have you entirely. You still found me this way, didn't you? Can you keep finding us in our dreams?"

They are very good questions. He wishes he knew for sure.

"I don't know if... if she'll realize I did this now, and keep me from doing it anymore. Or if something else will happen that will make it so I can't, but... as long as I can be asleep and other people are asleep, I should be able to look for them."

He's never used this power in a crisis situation like this before, but no better time to learn.

"She isn't here all the time," he says.

Yuya looks down, offering Steven a smile as well as he can given it's an awkward angle. "Then you've got that much, right?" It's pretty significant that the Rose Queen, for all her effort, couldn't isolate Steven entirely in Yuya's opinion.

"You can still talk to us and tell us how you and Mr. Strange are doing, or what the Summer Court is doing. We haven't left the library, so we're going to be there soon."

As soon as they have a plan, since they probably need it. But Yuya can't really confirm or not that much right now. Still, they've been through this before and he knows they won't leave anyone behind this time, either.

The assurance that they're coming is an important one for Steven, even if it fills him with related fears about what will happen to them when they try. He tries to think about what preparations could be made, but his access to the gardens is so limited, and the Rose Queen gets in the way of anything he tries to do.

"Okay," he agrees. "I'll keep trying to find you guys... and I'll try to be ready in the real world, too."

He goes quiet for another moment, thinking of the things that led up to this meeting. Something occurs to him, and his grip on Yuya tightens with the realization.

"Wait," he says, looking up. "Mr Strange wanted me to give a message to Lambert - can you talk to him?" He knows he just saw Lambert out and about, but...

Yuya's grin widens, glad to hear Steven more confident now. Although it shifts with curiosity when Steven mentions the missive and his grip tightens.

"Lambert? Yeah, I can talk to him." If he's not in the carnival, Yuya doesn't expect to have any problems calling him on the radio. "What's the message?"

"I don't know what it means, but... Mr Strange wanted to tell him to 'remember to do the thing he needs him to do.'" Or something like that. He said he'd pass along the message, even if it seems vague to him, it will probably mean something to Lambert.

"And if I can't find any of them here... can you tell the gems that I'm... uh..." Can he really say he's okay? He's not sure. "I'm still here, and I'm trying to help them get to me."

That only makes Yuya more confused, because it means absolutely nothing to him. But he nods, muttering the phrase under his breath to commit it to memory. It must be important if Strange is having Steven relay it.

"Got it. You can count on me." He pauses for a moment, going over all the gems he knows in his head. "The gems--I know Peridot, but who else is a gem?"

They probably all have accompanying names, Yuya's just not sure how to identify them off-hand. The carnival changes make it hard to assume anyone's appearance.

"Amethyst," he says, first and foremost. "And Lapis, but..." He trails off. He's pretty sure she's in danger too, isn't she? "I think... she was in trouble, too."

He thinks a moment longer.

"Don't tell Jasper. She won't care." He can't help but sound grumpy about that one. "She'd probably prefer if I never came back."

Yuya wrinkles his nose. "Well, that's too bad for her because you're definitely coming back." He sticks his tongue out briefly, dampening the offense of his words. He can reach the others, though, and at least try to contact Lapis.

They'll probably appreciate hearing from him. Watching Steven fall into the Rose Queen's arms like that... it was alarming, but Yuya's glad to see him finding some clarity again.

"Can you pass on a message for me, too?" He tilts his head. "To Mr. Strange. That we haven't left, and we'll definitely save him from Ignatius."

He's not sure if Strange actually needs the same reassurance, but he knows how much Strange has to lose if he's stuck with Ignatius. That would be daunting for anyone. "He has to get back to Mrs. Arabella, so... even if he offered himself, I can't leave it at that."

"Yeah, you right," Steven says, nodding in agreement. He smiles a little, feeling comforted for now, even if he dreads going back to what's happening in the waking world. "He does. I'll tell him for you."

He exhales, releasing tension. He feels like he might be wasting energy, now. Dream traveling tires him out rather than allowing him rest, he knows that much. What should he do? Should he keep searching?

"I don't know how long I can stay here," he says, before laughing feebly. "But I really don't want to wake up."

"Well, I won't tell you to leave." He scratches the side of his nose. Realistically, even Yuya shouldn't stay here when he has messages to deliver and rescues to start preparing. But he doesn't want to rip this comforting presence from Steven when he's suffering so much.

A little longer is probably fine. Yuya's mind is still filling the waters with the peaceful familiarity of home, if a little embellished. A school of fish will probably try swimming through them before being forced to scatter around.

"Gongenzaka meditates a lot to clear his head. I'm not very good at it, but... I guess it does help to let everything go just for a little bit."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

⇨ DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject