lostcarnival | ⇨ FAERIE TALES

"Uuhh... right," says Amethyst awkwardly. She really does not want to have to keep carving through endless vines, but boy this is not her forte. "And, I guess, there's no way any of this stuff... can stand in our way..."

Tyki does not join the fray with the others. Anything he can think of or can do at the moment is loud and possibly destructive. If it came down to it he could assist but for now it seemed they were capable on their own. It's slow going and time is ever their enemy right now.

"See, you got it," he says to Amethyst, giving kind and gentle words. She had such a fiery spirit and they are certainly not one of pity. "We must be close given how thick these vines are becoming."

Tyki right - they are close. Yet, to Steven, they've felt a million miles away.

He's so far away from everything right now, like he's outside of his body while still being awake. Not that it really matters, when he can barely move as it is. With nowhere to escape to, physically or mentally, he's allowed himself to get lost in it all - the familiar feeling of the Blue Rose's will flows through him, and it's easy to forget that has a will of is own.

It isn't until he feels Creation rise up inside of him again that he's startled into remembering himself. Suddenly, he knows. There are other people here, too.

Somehow, he also knows they need his help - like he can feel them asking even if he can't hear or see their presence. He mumbles something out loud before realizing that no one will hear him. He wants to scream for their help, how is he supposed to help them? Yet, he feels like he has to.

He wants to cry, because he feels like he can't. It seems impossible, like it will only result in him getting hurt. But... he can't ignore their calls, either.

He allows himself to feel out the extent of his fingers, rooted into the ground below. It's a part of him, right now - he's one with the gardens, so why can't he control them? It should be something he can do. He just needs to make them listen.

'Please, please, please,' he thinks, closing his eyes tight and reaching out - if not with his own hands, with a borrowed pair.

The thorns will begins to shift, pulling aside and towards the walls. It's slow, but they are definitely moving, and seemingly in an effort to make the path easier to traverse. Soon, they'll be at the center.

"Whoah -- did that really work??" Amethyst runs forward as the thorns begin to part, boggling at them in absolute disbelief. She's ready for something to attack her, for dashing out in front to have been a mistake as it so often is with her, but she catches herself as she hops over a retreating vine, cupping one hand to her mouth:

"Uh, I mean, obviously it did and no way any gnarly plant monsters are gonna get my butt poofed right now unless I'm doing something real cool and heroic!"

It takes a second, and then Yuya is elated.

"He knows!" He's almost bouncing on his feat. He can't rush far ahead of the group given the constant blockades, but he's quicker to move forward to the next one, and the next one.

Briefly he turns back to Amethyst, smiling despite the situation. "That won't happen anyway, because we're all going to look after each other and Steven. Everyone's getting out of here, no problem, okay?"

He sounds confident, although it's hard to tell if that's part of telling the story or not.

Phew...good. They have only a little further to go, and then-

Gongenzaka pauses, and looks to the others with him as they carry on forward. "We must form a plan for swift escape- particularly once Steven is in tow. I, the man Gongenzaka, have no doubt that an even quicker pace will be best..."

He finds his eyes lingering over a few when he says that. Tyki certainly seems capable, and Joker can fly...but Yuugo also has a bike, one they could no doubt get Steven on...

...He'll leave the floor open to ideas. "Gathering the start of a plan before we reach Steven will make it yet easier to move the instant we have him, aaah?"

"Well if the Rose Queen shows up... we've got plenty of options for keeping her distracted, yeah?"

Because they all know that in a straight fight, most likely book magic or not- the Fae tends to kick their butts in that regard. Also they can't depend on this narrative being so simple, surely.

"Options that don't involve people letting themselves lag behind obviously." Yugo glances at his card spirit companion, then shifts his gaze toward Yuya and Gongenzaka as if they're most likely to catch what he's suggesting.

"Who we have here still isn't all we've got."

Tyki's all for a well thought out plan but talking now seems almost too late. Not that he'll voice such an assessment given how he doesn't want to play it into the narrative on accident. There's just something about talking about the start of any plan within the possible middle of a well thought out fortress that kind of irks him. These vines are parting for them now and they are carrying forward with blissful ease, but most of the people here should know those vines and thorns could just as easily close in an instant. They had last time, trapping them all inside with the Rose Queen. Not to mention last time there were eyes and ears everywhere. Sure, there wasn't any now but that could easily change as the vines did before.

He knows there wasn't any time to scout out this place, build a plan, and locate Steven beforehand. These small things felt like something they should've announced before heading out. "The knights and Guardian Angel had enough sense to keep their voices down."

With the thorns pulling out of the way, it's only a short time before they reach the final destination. They come to a round wall of roses, thorns deadly sharp, that guards a central area of the garden - it's core, as it turns out. As those last vines are either ripped away or move of their own accord, they'll finally be able to see what they're looking for.

The vines here are crystal, as if made of faceted glass. They will be very familiar to anyone who has seen the Blue Rose. Within them, there is a circular patch of grass and soil, with a small pool of water off to one side. In the middle, there is Steven.

His arms, wings, and feet have all been rooted into the earth, his skin transformed into the same crystal as the roses around him. Blue rose blossoms sprout from his body, and his gemstones have completely lost their pink hue, now a facsimile of the Rose's colors. Though he is too tightly bound to fall over, he looks like he's in a trance, his eyes half-lidded and glowing too brightly to see his pupils. All he's wearing is a simple, over the shoulder chiton.

He strains his body, as if trying to pull against his entrenched limbs, but he can't escape. His own body is rooted deep into the ground, betraying him.

Honestly, it really is a little too late to try and figure out much of a plan now, deep in as they are and with everything subject to change at a moment's notice. Improvisation is the best thing they can do....

...And all of that completely leaves his mind the second the last of the thorns have parted out of their way and he sees Steven.

He can't tell what goes through his heart, only that it seems to go utterly cold with despair and white hot with rage at the same time, and his steps stutter to a stop for a half second before he lets out a shaky breath. No time for that. It's exactly as the Ringmaster said over the radio, about the Blue Rose acting up.

Grabbing whoever looks like they're going to bolt off first- not that he doesn't understand the feeling, twisting like acid in his gut- he looks right to the boy. "Steven," he says quietly, keeping Tyki's words in mind, "We're here for ya. Ya can hear us, I know ya can... and we're gonna get ya out of here. Make no doubt about it."

Yuya had expected this, a little bit. He saw the state Steven was in, but it's something else the way he's actually rooted into place.

Unsurprisingly, he's quick to lung forward with his free hand outstretched before Joker grabs his arm and forces him to stumble to a stop. He doesn't look back, but he does bring his voice lower when he actually speaks.

"Steven, we're here."

Edited 2018-05-27 22:44 (UTC)

"Steven!!"

Amethyst very nearly manages to make a break for it, but Joker's reflexes are quick enough to grab the trailing end of her whip -- and yank it back hard, sending Amethyst spinning back and eating dirt on the ground just behind him. The whip disappears in a shimmer of purple light.

"Ugh..."

Gongenzaka sucks in a sharp breath at the sight of Steven, but he does not move. After a few seconds to collect himself, he instead summons to his side his daemon- who mutters some narration to herself as she turns to keep watch away from them all. 'Summoned to his side,' a few others might hear her whisper, 'The familiar to the great guardian held watch, and not a single harmful presence could escape her notice,'

...They cannot, after all, risk getting caught while Steven is like this. With Marishi taking guard, Gongenzaka thinks to his healing scroll- but without time...

...His eyes widen. "...In it's own manner of speaking, even magic is a poison, is it not?" He declares, the announcement more statement than question. "....If our 'Angel' and others see fit...I, the man Gongenzaka, believe I can heal at least something." If they can even just clear Steven's head a little, or ease some of his pain, that will help right? As it is, surely this could be the sort of excuse the story can use to boost such healing. The thoughts die on his very lips, however. And as his own daemon hisses and whispers of connections between themselves, Gongenzaka voices why.

"The wall-" he hisses, attempting to keep his voice low for the others, even as he braces himself. "She is HERE-!"

Edited 2018-05-27 23:36 (UTC)

As soon as Gongenzaka has proclaimed it to the group, the Rose Queen reveals herself. Thorns bending out of her way, she steps out of the wall of roses behind Steven, gaze falling upon the group hatefully.

"How dare you," she snarls, gesturing a hand and forcing the vines closed along the path they entered from. Steven gasps as she does, as if her taking control of the roses has been in direct opposition to his own efforts. His eyes have opened, the fear clear on his face.

"Go," he pleads, suddenly. "You have to go...!"

"No!" yells Amethyst, scrambling back to her feet, terrified by the appearance of the Rose Queen, but absolutely unwilling to back down. "Steven, no, we're here to save you--!"

Edited 2018-05-27 23:48 (UTC)

"Not without you!" Yuya pulls against Joker's grip, hand still outstretched to Steven even if neither of them can reach right now.

"She can't..." Yuya remembers, barely, that there's a need to maintain the narrative. "The Rose Queen can't keep the Prince captive as long as his friends are here! He escaped before, and he can do it again!"

Some... somehow.

"Sorry, dear beloved Prince," he begins without a moment's hesitation, "Mister Yuyu's right. None of us, your loyal knights, are going to abandon you in your time of need. We will rescue you from your oppressive mother without a doubt." None of them were going anywhere now.

He doesn't need to see it in order to know that their escape options meant nothing if the vines were closing in again. He puts on a bright smile, "Give us a reason to hope, young Prince. Believe in us."

His Tease will flood into the air from behind him suddenly and they'll swarm towards the entrance they came from, "My Tease absolutely love vegetation." Attacking in a large group, with the fury of a starving frenzy, they'll begin to try to feast on the growing vines blocking their exit to stop the growth.

Edited 2018-05-28 00:07 (UTC)

This place won't be crowded if a certain someone summons some extra backup, right. Yeah definitely not. Because Yugo himself is going through his extra deck and fusses over his disk before slapping down two of his monsters into form from the solid vision.

"Lively soul of swordplay... Come, Hi-Speedroid Chanbarider! And spread those wondrous and beautiful wings to strike down your enemies at the speed of light! Grow into your true power! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!!!"

Which makes a red dual-wielding sword monster appear with a boisterous 'Yahoooo~!' and the tiny dragon on Yugo's shoulder to move forward and become their real size with a thundering roar.

With merely a gesture, "Chanbarider" is sent to go help the Tease and Clear Wing to go make an attempt to cut Steven free.

It looks like everyone else has gotten the "raw firepower" part of things settled, so Joker won't put himself into that part of things as he lets go of Yuya and Amethyst. Instead, he'll do exactly as he did in his first meeting with the Rose Queen as his wings propel his steps faster to meet her before coming to a stop and flaring them out- get her attention. He'll be the distraction, if everyone else can handle Steven.

"Rose Queen, as his Guardian Angel, I challenge your claim to Steven Universe," he announces boldly, remembering what Lambert had told him. "Your blood is not enough- not to outweigh the negligence and cruelty that you have wrought against your own child, and not enough to outweigh the blood of our own covenant!"

"Indeed!" chimes Marishi, her partner doing all he can to focus his energy and spirit to Steven for the boy's support and strength. "What is family, but those who do more than love..! Those who would do anything, even at their own risk, regardless of blood? Bound by flesh, we may not be...but we are bound in spirit, and so long as he is able to hold us in our hearts, ALL OF US shall remain strong enough to escape you..! One way, or another..!" the cat spitefully adds- though it is if anything mere insurance to keep the story from tipping too far into the unbelievable. They will escape, certainly...but they will not escape without trouble and injury, not with the Fae involved.

The thing that most violently grab's the Queen's attention here is Clear Wing - going straight for Steven, and apparently with aggressive intent. Her sabers emerge from the dirt, flying into her hands. With a graceful twirl she cuts down Yugo's summoned beasts, slashing its body with her blades.

She then thrusts he saber at Joker, her lips curling into a sneer.

"You will not touch him," she says, disgusted by his ostensible entitlement. "I gave life to this child, and that life is mine to hold. You will not take him from me, and neither will his treacherous 'father'."

She honestly has no idea where Greg is at this point, but his memory still infuriates her.

Everything around Steven is a blur, as if his eyes are in two place at once. One half of them is with the Blue Rose, lost in the current of its desire, while the other half is trying to comprehend what's going on around his physical body.

He can hear them better than he can see them. He can hear them calling out, and they're so close, but he still feels sp trapped.

"I don't know what to do," he cries, tears spilling out onto his cheeks. He wants to reach out, but he can't.

And now it's time for Yugo to quickly narrate something to hopefully keep his dragon in this fight...

"Clear Wing's a spirit in a body made from solid vision with mass...!" is what he manages to declare and the only thing as the sabers tear 'wounds' into the dragon that 'bleed' with digital particles.

Which also doesn't prevent the Rose Queen's attack from sending Clear Wing flying off course and toward a wall. So much for that (rather short-sighted) plan.

Edited 2018-05-28 01:33 (UTC)

Without Joker to hold her back any more, Amethyst stumbles forward, fists clenched. She isn't so headstrong as to try to attack the high fae on her own, but boy, she is not going to keep her mouth shut. "You didn't give him nothin"!" she shouts. "He was better off before you got your gross hands on him!"

It's times like this he wishes his tentacles were stronger, that he had something else to add other than raw fire power. He wants to keep their exit clear but he doesn't know how many thorn doors have already closed behind them. He has an idea for later but there is no way he's going to voice it now. His Power of Choose could get them out if it worked. If perhaps they could weaken her.

"Believe in us, Steven. We will save you~♥ You belong with us, not her! Your love is far stronger than hers ever will be." The Rose Queen was in the way, and he side eyes Joker at him stepping forward. There's nothing he can do. This is the third time now for Steven. He may as well allow him to play that role. Gon, Yuya, and Amethyst's words ring in his ears and he hopes that will reach him if his do not.

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