⇨ THE EPILOGUE

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 61
Where: The Carnival
What: After all the rescues team return, it will be matter of tending to the wounded and getting the hell out of dodge. The Ringmaster can handle the fleeing part, but someone will need to look after those in the medical tent. Or, maybe, you just want to show up and ask what the hell happened.
Warnings: Some messed up consequences of faerie fuckery.

IN REPAIR↴ As the minutes tick past, all four rescue groups will eventually return. Everyone in the carnival is encouraged to help out, ensuring that the rescues and victims both are taken care of after the fact. You can tag in here as rescuers taking care of business around the carnival, victims recovering, or other workers checking in to see what's going on. This log is for general aftermath threads, made by anyone.

Comments

[prazerbutterfly]

With people rushing in and out of the tent, it takes some concentration to focus on who is leaving and who is going. He may not be good at math but he could keep a proper list, maintain a stock and inventory things around him. It made him good at social politics, catching onto important names and managing things and people around him without losing track of where they were. It's why he's so good at what he does, a good errand boy at least.

But even with such concentration, it's not hard to miss the lumbering beast besides him rising onto his paws and giving that adorable yawn. Honestly, every time he sees this skeleton he seems less like the Warden and more like just... Sans.

"So far. My group got back about a half an hour ago. Steven has been rescued and no one else was taken nor critically injured. Well, Steven has undergone some modifications from the last I saw him."

[osteothropy]

Sans gives a subconscious whip of his tail at that, complete with it's still very present scorpion barb.

"Ah, shit," he says, looking towards the medical tent. His imagination is already getting pretty inventive with that idea. "Is it bad?"

He hates the idea of anyone getting messed with like that.

[prazerbutterfly]

He reaches out to reassure him but then his fingers curl and he withdraws his hand to his side again. He looks down towards the space between his knees, down at the cuts here and there on his clothing.

He looks away towards the medical tent, "He's not alone right now but when he found him, he was rooted to the ground as if he were a garden decoration. Crystal entwined within his body far more than I've seen on anyone else." He then looks back at Sans, his fingers raising to curl against his chin, thumb playing with the edge of his lip in thought, "I don't know what the Blue Rose actually looks like but there was a point the Rose Queen touched him. All around us energy began to flare and the glowing crystal roses around us looked just like his skin did. Half plant, half crystal."

His teeth grit gently in the back of his mouth, "She was using him."

[osteothropy]

Sans isn't super familiar with the Blue Rose, but he has seen it, so this isn't hard to imagine. It's an uncomfortable idea to say the least, especially given what he knows about partly turning to stone.

"So the RM was right," he says. "She was saying on the radio... she thought the Queen would try to connect to the Rose through him."

[prazerbutterfly]

"I heard. I don't reply often to the radio but I do listen quite often. It was all the more clearer once I saw it." He gestures with his left hand while trying to recall the feeling, "Freezing yet hot. All around us. If Steven hadn't resisted thanks to his friends assistance, I'm sure we'd be dead."

But that wasn't really terrifying for him. What bothered him the most was how remotely attached he still seemed to her. All the more reason he's glad the only one he'd technically be in service to was dead.

[osteothropy]

"That's the Blue Rose's magic," he confirms, resting his head on his fore-paws, exhaling a flame-licked sigh. "So she was closer to pulling it off than we thought."

The Ringmaster had been concerned about the Rose Queen commanding it from afar, but no one had considered that she would be able to draw that strength into Steven. He's going to have to talk to the Ringmaster about this.

"Kinda scary. Someone needs to give that kid a full analysis, make sure this won't keep happening."

[prazerbutterfly]

"Real close. I had my doubts going with this group given their performance the last time we were around the Rose Queen but with a like minded goal in mind, they were able to rouse Steven's morale. Otherwise he'd be a decent energy source right now for the Blue Rose. Now I can see why anyone would want this."

Not that he hadn't seen that kind of thing before. Just from a human somewhat attuned, tainted, with her fae bloodline? What a formidable force. "Rita maybe. I'd say Strange but... right now I don't feel comfortable with that idea. The Ringmaster might have a better chance than anyone." He's all for guaranteeing the kid for a short while until they are sure. No doubt his friends would keep him company. Still, it's not something he voices out loud.

[osteothropy]

"Rita's a smart kid, and she's got a good eye for this stuff," Sans says. He hasn't spent much personal time around Rita, but he's seen her get involved in things enough to know she's pretty talented. "The RM will have to step in for actually do anything about it."

"But... this means we can't risk any of the wrong people getting access to the Mirror, either. Steven getting infected by the Rose was a mistake, but now that we know channeling its power through people is possible... that's a security risk."

Maybe Steven was a special situation, but he isn't going to risk it.

[prazerbutterfly]

"Indeed. She figured out one of my spells before I even had a chance to reveal myself. I don't know of anyone else but she would be the best bet for this." Plus she was honest, real honest, if something seemed bad. Well, when it didn't come to herself.

"Not to mention we likely can't pinpoint the real reason why. Steven has a lot of factors about him. He was her... 'son' right? Summer Court. Looked plant based like the Blue Rose. I heard Syrlya was plant based as well but Steven seemed to be a better catalyst. There's no telling what the 'wrong people' are when it comes to the mirror." But he knows Sans already had this conversation with Strange. He heard it and how out of hand it got.

"The library was a good start at gathering information but we still know little to nothing about any of these artifacts in terms of using them." He doesn't care about people not minding being guinea pigs but he doesn't want to take that risk either.

[osteothropy]

"Not even the fae seem to know that, which is the real pickle," Sans says, yawning again. He rests his head on his paws again. "Besides the Rose Queen, anyway. She was the custodian of the Rose, but based on the stories, one of the old Winter Queens was the one looking after the Mirror."

"I only know two people with any kind of connections to mirrors, and that's Strange and Lapis Lazuli. Both of 'em have been 'claimed' by a fae or two, also."

[prazerbutterfly]

Keep yawning like that and Tyki is going to get more tired than he already is. He's even sliding down onto the ground fully now with his hands on his stomach as not to pat Sans himself. He snorts gently, "One for each, with the Red Beast being a likely roamer. Or perhaps with the Wyld Fae." Since distribution evenly seems to be the key point here.

He knows about Strange but... "Lapis Lazuli, the blue woman?" Or Gem. He had only met once in Greysol as a polar bear and saw her when she performed for the carnival. The Magician Tent was always off to the side. They worked on their own acts.

[osteothropy]

"Yeah. Something to do with being trapped in a mirror for thousands of years," he says, with the tone of a shrug. "I don't know the details, I just heard it getting yelled about on the radio, once."

You can learn a lot about people by listening into the things they say on the public network. They get kind of carried away sometimes.

[prazerbutterfly]

"Thousands of years. I can't imagine," he says, with a noncommittal tone to that. He's not quite invested in Lapis enough to care about past struggles. "It's why I don't like having conversations on the radio myself unless it is more private. Even then, I prefer face to face." It's why he got both of his supervisors text rings.

He side eyes Sans for a moment at the way he says it after speaking his own opinion. Tyki could agree that information was easily gained from any source of public media. "So that removes both Strange for being strange, and Lapis for past trauma from being anywhere near the mirror for precautionary reasons."