⇨ 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

[whattaprick]

"I think ... that was what she used to be."

Lambert didn't ask explicitly. Even as rude as he can be, it hadn't seemed wise to pry too much into that. Maybe Rita didn't have much of an impression of the Ringmaster before Portland, but she looked a little less humanoid from the Summerlands on. It had been hard to miss...

"You know that was real ... right?"

[anti_nonsense]

What she used to be? Then unlike the rest of them, who assumed the lives of what were sometimes radically different people... the Ringmaster's form and identity was actually part of her reality?

Rita only has a few seconds to process that, however, when his next question catches her completely off-guard.

"What do you mean?" she asks, stiffening. It's eerily similar to what Ignatius asked her... but Lambert couldn't have heard that, could he?

[whattaprick]

It's something that Childermass only explained to him once, and to be honest Lambert doesn't really grasp the details of it himself. All he can do is struggle back to that memory, which is a tall order considering his state of mind.

"The lives the Severing gave us ... we really lived them," he blinks, slow and hazy. "John asked the Ringmaster. That's why he and Steven became faeblooded, even after..."

[anti_nonsense]

"No..." Rita's eyes widen as she looks over his face, seeking confirmation that he must be lying, or confused. He could be confused.

"That's ridiculous," she sputters, shaking her head. "We can't be... I can't be her."

If he'd told her this a day sooner, she might have accepted it easily. She and the other Rita are a lot more alike than they are different, after all. It's not exactly insulting to think that they're the same. But now, accepting it means acknowledging that her past with Ignatius was real, that she was there, and that on some level, he knows her. All of that, just the day after she denied as much.

[whattaprick]

Lambert's tired, and unfocused, but there's a certainty to his words nonetheless.

"Didn't make sense to me then." He frowns, like he's trying to remember something. "Still doesn't. But not impossible."

They are, after all, in a Carnival that deals with impossible things all the time.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita’s stare lingers for several seconds, then she forces her gaze away. It’s going to take a while to unpack that revelation. Thanks a lot, Lambert.

For now, she decides to change the subject. “Looks like you’re in rough shape. How long do you suppose it’ll be until you’re back in action?” Lambert’s probably been on the verge of death enough times by now to have some idea of what it’ll take. Maybe.

[whattaprick]

Lambert frowns, considering.

“Probably a week or two.” He scowls, just thinking about it. That feels like a long time, even longer with what’s at stake. “Bones take a while, even with magic ... was there anyone injured worse?”

[anti_nonsense]

"We've got a few injured. Some of them don't look good, but..." Rita shrugs as she casts a glance over her shoulder, at some of the other occupied beds. "They'll live."

She doesn't look back to him. "When you get better, I was thinking... I want to step up my combat training. You think you could...?" Apparently, it's too hard to actually finish that request for help, but he should get the idea.

[whattaprick]

... Why is she asking him and not 9S? The question is on the tip of Lamberts tongue, but after a moment’s thought, he decides to let it go.

“Sure,” he says, simply. But to take the sting off asking— “But until then, I need you to do something for me first.”

[anti_nonsense]

Well, that was easy. Or so she thinks, until Lambert comes out with a request of his own. Maybe she should've seen it coming, considering he's technically her boss.

"What is it?" she asks, facing him with a questioning look.

[whattaprick]

Lambert frowns slightly, then gestures tiredly over the edge of the bed, trying to indicate something under it. There is, in fact, something under it -- his sword, and the metal bracer he was wearing during the fight, still fully charged from Ignatius's attack.

"You remember the bracer I had during the fight? It's made of a metal that absorbs magic energy and lets you use it again later." He pauses for breath, but Rita can probably guess where he's going with this.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita follows his gesture, then slides off her chair and crouches to check under the bed. The bracer in question catches her eye, and she reaches for it, then stands to examine it.

"This has Ignatius' power in it...?" she surmises, eyes fixed on it for a few seconds before she finally looks back to Lambert. "You want me to analyze it?"

[whattaprick]

"Careful," Lambert warns. Fresh-filled with power and heated by flame, the bracer had been hot enough to burn Strange's face -- but right now it's just hot to the touch without being painful. To Rita's magic eye, it's probably lit up with magic potential.

But he nods, once she has it in hand. "I don't know if you'll get anything useful out of it," he admits. "But if not, the magic should power up your own spells, if you need it."

[anti_nonsense]

The heat radiating from the bracer is tolerable at first, but gradually inches towards being uncomfortable. Rita looks around, spots a stack of cloths on a nearby table, and takes one to wrap the bracer with. It should be fine if she borrows one.

Lambert's offer is met with a surprised look. He'd even let her use this magic...?

Her expression soon gives way to a slight smile. "We'll see," she says. "For now, you'd better get some more rest." Rita's eager to get started on examining this bracer, after all.

[whattaprick]

Lambert was otherwise just going to use it to turn into a dragon, and he doesn't really have much use for that now. Complicated magic, things that could protect the Carnival in a more lasting way... he doesn't have much of that. All he can do is find people he trusts to carry that out.

"Right," he affirms, already looking halfway to drifting off again, settling against the pillows. "And keep working ... on what we got from the books. We need to find our next stop."

[anti_nonsense]

"I'm on it," Rita replies simply. She's already been compiling all the information she could find about the Silver Mirror, after all. Speaking of which...

"Did you end up getting a picture of the Mirror? I could use a copy of that." She remembers him saying he intended to over the network. Hopefully he didn't get sidetracked.

[whattaprick]

"I got a lot." Lambert snickers. It's sort of unbecoming, but he's mostly thinking the one on him got burned to ash, so...

"John's got a copy." Hopefully, Rita remembers who the hell 'John' is. If there was ever any proof that Lambert's still not quite all there mentally...

[anti_nonsense]

"Childermass, huh..." Fortunately, it's easy enough to figure out who he means. It's not the first time he's called him that in front of Rita.

"All right. I've got all I need." Rita steps back, cradling the bundled bracer under her arm. "Try not to do anything dumb while you're still recovering." With that, she turns around and leaves him, heading toward the tent's exit.