⇨ FAERIE TALES

[ringleaders]

Who: Rescue Teams!
When: Day 61
Where: The Athenaeum
What: The carnival goes to get their kidnapped comrades, and use the Athenaeum's magical power of narrative asspulls to guide their way.
Warnings: Two out of three of the fae here are deeply unclean.

TELL YOUR STORY↴ Five of you have been lost, and it's time to get them back. Below, we will be threading the encounter threads one at a time. Put on your best improv hat and feel free to join in.

Comments

MALACHITE & THE LADY OF THE LAKE

[npcarnival]

The hall where Lapis and Herbert first found the Lady of the Lake lays before you. Of course, there is no lily pads or deep stagnant water here now - just stone floors, as expected. To find anything else, you'll have to go looking.

Thankfully, you have a few tricks up your sleeve.

[scientificist]

"This," says Herbert, waving his left arm out in a wide gesture, "is where it was." He sounds a lot more dramatic than is perhaps called for in an empty hall of the library, but then. Presumably that's how he's supposed to be, right now. Out here, in the library, his bandages are not only covered by his usual suit, but he fairly confidently announced that after passing through the magical fire, he can summon flaming, bright green wings to the gross charred wing stubs on his back, so he's done that.

(It's. He needs his aesthetic, ok. And it's definitely totally a strategic thing to do in this instance and not a stupid waste of Library defences.)

Over his shoulder is slung a satchel, and from it, he brandishes a medium sized Erlenmeyer flask filled with liquid. Unstopping it, he begins to walk in a counterclockwise circle, pouring the liquid slowly out beside him as he goes.

"In this way," he announces, halfway finished his circle, "we will summon back the water and the fae who requires it." Finally, his talent to spout complete bullshit with absolute, dramatic confidence is coming in handy.

[periphrasing]

Peridot is here too, of course. She doesn't look equipped, except for the gauntlet she always wears, but that's the key: Whatever she doesn't need to summon by story magic is stashed away in there. The vorpal blade, a sturdy length of lead piping, the pokeballs containing Lapis's dratini and her own wimpod are all contained within, among other things.

Those things are just backup though, really. The magic of this place is going to be their real weapon, and this method of getting into the fae's lair is the first test of that. She's tense as she watches Herbert work, watching the floor closely for any sign of reaction.

[textsfromhotland]

Stories... stories... okay, Alphys feels like she has to add something to this, so she clears her throat:

"A-and it works, because it's midnight, the most magical and romantic hour!"

So... will it work?

[periphrasing]

"What?" Peridot growls, taking her eyes off the floor to give Alphys a judgey side-eye.

[npcarnival]

As the liquid spreads across the floor, the stone it touches will begin to change. Herbert better get out of the way, because after a short while the stone itself will start to give way, as if melting into water, spreading and spreading until the same pool as before has taken the floor's place.

The only difference is, this time, you can see an underwater tunnel at the far side of the lake water, leading into darkness. The lily pads shift to each side of the pond, as if clearing the way for the adventurer's arrival.

[scientificist]

Almost simultaneously, Herbert gives Alphys a nearly identical, judging side-eye. He doesn't know what the hell romance has to do with summoning a shitty water fae but he doesn't want to weaken anything by denying it. But the water is working anyway, so he steps back, and looks at Peridot.

"Should we fight in her lair or try to bring her here?" he asks quietly.

[textsfromhotland]

"I was just trying to make it dramatic..." you guys are just mean.

[periphrasing]

Peridot has turned her attention back to the lake, watching the water spread and transform the floor with a look of awe. There's a delay before gets her wits back about her to answer Herbert's question.

"I don't particularly relish the idea of going underwater to fight a fae whose sphere of influence is drowning," she muses, twitching tail betraying her nerves. She doesn't exactly have any hot ideas for how to lure them out here, though...

[textsfromhotland]

Alphys scoots a little closer to the lake and raises her voice: "Uh, and as the intrepid adventurers uncovered her lair, the mysterious lady of the lake came to greet them!"

[npcarnival]

A strong current kicks up within the pond, water blasting out of the tunnel at a wildly accelerated rate. The force of it wears the stone away, widening the portal. A funnel of water shoots up from the pool's surface, like a geyser unleashing from the earth below.

The Lady of the Lake stands on the top of the water stream, as if it's something as solid as a pedestal to display herself on. She's just as naked as she was before.

"Oh," she says. "It's another pretty gem..."

[scientificist]

He was planning on an elixir of some description, but Herbert guesses it's time, now. They have to face this bitch again. Immediately.

"Yes," he says, "she's here to see the other two. Have you lost them already? Or lost interest?"

[periphrasing]

Peridot could literally just strangle Alphys right about now, she's so furious. What the hell was she thinking, bringing the fae out like that before they'd even settled on an approach, or braced themselves for the encounter at all?!

She takes a step back when the Lady appears and addresses her, shaken by the sudden turn this has taken.

[textsfromhotland]

It worked!... entirely too well. But Alphys' storytelling can affect this super-powered fae, and she's gonna keep going.

"But you've already got two perfectly good gems!" She says. "You really don't need anymore, right?"

[periphrasing]

"Alphys what are you doing!?" Peridot hisses at her in a barely hushed tone, lashing her tail angrily. Maybe she's being unduly harsh, but after what just happened she is pretty hesitant to see where this is going next.

[scientificist]

"If!" says Herbert, his eyes stressfully wider, trying to continue and reinforce his improvised strategy in the face of Alphys. "She even still has them at all!"

[npcarnival]

"Oh, I'd never lose something so nice," she says, smiling slightly in a way that suggests she is humouring them for the entertainment of it. "We've only just begun to get to know each other."

The pillar of water lowers so that she's closer to their level, laying forward into her belly and kicking her legs.

"Did you want to come along? I can't see why else you'd be here."

[periphrasing]

"We're here to win them back from you," Peridot announces fiercely, forcing herself to take a step forward. She's bristling, gauntlet clad hand fidgeting restlessly.

[textsfromhotland]

Alphys shrinks back as the lady gets closer, but when she lays forward, she realizes something: Oh no, she's hot.

"U-uh- that's right! We're here to rescue our friends!"

...She doesn't actually know Jasper or Lapis but the power of friendship is always handy in these stories.

[scientificist]

Herbert slowly pulls out another corked flask and opens it, plucking one of his green glowing feathers to stir the mixture within.

"She's coming up behind you as we speak," he says, letting the feather dissolve, not looking up at the Lady, "following you here through the watery portal--you must not be completed your business with her. Perhaps you haaaave... less control than you think." He finally looks up as he tilts the flask back to take a drink from it and hands it sideways to Peridot.

[stompadour]

As Herbert speaks, Malachite's gigantic head begins to emerge from the water. For a second she looks -- almost perplexed, struggling to remember how exactly she got here. But honestly? Right now Malachite is enough of a mess that she's not going to question it. She's out of the Lady of the Lake's drowning cavern, and she's going to make the most of it.

A horrid grin spreads across her snout, her lips peeling back four ways to show fangs. One giant hand follows her head and shoulders, slapping down wetly against the floor of the library to pull herself up.

STEVEN UNIVERSE & THE ROSE QUEEN

[npcarnival]

The mission is clear, but the first step will be finding the person you need to rescue. It seems obvious that Steven is trapped somewhere in the Queen's gardens... the real question is how you will find him without being stopped by her defenses. Fortification is her strong point, apparently, so you have your work cut out for you.

Where will you start?

[npcarnival]

Well, forget that, then. Whether or not Malachite is obeying her commands as stringently as she'd like, there's still plenty of time to learn! The Lady of the Lake watches the fusion with a look of amusements, pulling herself out of the way to allow her to surface.

"Oh, Malachite - I didn't know you were coming," she says. With that, she springs off of her water pedestal, and lands right on the fusion's back, lashing out with her seaweed hair and grabbing at Malachite's shoulders and neck.

"While you're here, could you crush these for me?"

That means you, guys.

[betheman]

Gongenzaka starts as he has intended the moment a plan even began. Nodding to those with him, be says but one thing- "A moment to focus."

And focus he does. He closes his eyes and finds himself writing script in his mind almost, trying to paint themselves in the tale around them. A tale of rescue, and friendship (or at least, he would think so), and especially with how Yuuya had spoken to him about being visited in a dream...

It seems perfect. Like something from those books he brought back from Portland...if he would only give it something to latch onto.

He focuses, and his aura flares, shining an icey blue through the leaves of his back and his mane. It begins as the soul tracking spell- the magic he already had, the magic that would reach out and seek out the spiritual energies of those foreign and familiar alike. But through the story...

He tries to reach out as well- as he had to Creation, but this time, toward Steven. He seeks out the soul of one he considers friend, and familiar, and reaches for it. Create for us a beacon, that only we can find, he thinks, furrowing his brows with focus and dedication. Something to show us the way...

There is no faltering with his heart; he knows, absolutely, that they will find where he is, no matter how well he is hidden. Find him, and follow that trail to save him.

[pipers_son]

For the time being, Joker stays behind. As a Stage Manager, this is the skill he's had to focus the most: learning to stay in the shadows and allow the spotlight to shine on a performer in particular.

He'll let Gongenzaka start this story first... and see where this gets them.

Hopefully, to Steven.