lostcarnival | ⇨ CAMPING GROUNDS

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⇨ CAMPING GROUNDS

Who: Everybody!
When: Day 64
Where: The Camping Grounds
What: While the Ringmaster attempts to purge the carnival of magical tracing spells and deal with the angry fire fae in her belly, everyone else is getting sent on an emergency camping trip with some unusual local fauna.
Warnings: Camping.

CRYPTIC CAMPGROUNDS↴

You're given about three hours to prepare, after the Ringmaster tells you her plans for the coming week. There is a vast selection of camping equipment at your disposal, and the means to take along enough food for the length of the stay. The wilderness of the planet you're left on is nearly idyllic, but some people just don't like the great outdoors.

► CRYPTOZOOLOGY: As it turns out, the carnival won't be alone here. There is a varied ecosystem of cryptids to be found as well, living in relative peace and mostly reacting to the newcomers with curiousity. More details can be found on the plotting post. You are free to NPC the cryptids as much as you need to, as long as you stick to the behaviours described.

► DREAMSHARING: There is a player plot going on which will allow characters to share dreams! These are specifically more dreams than nightmares, and the mushi-adept characters will be here to help.

► CHILLAX: There isn't any plot twist for this setting, so this is mostly an opportunity to decompress from the last plot and get ready for the future. The Ringmaster will show up occasionally to help with needed medical treatments and check on things, but won't stick around for long.

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"... You guessed right, we're two out of the four pieces of Zarc's soul. Which is why we were perfect for the spell that got us all out of Portland, can't be more related to someone else than that."

As unpleasant the exact memory of the ritual still is, one can't help feel just a little pride in being right about such a connection's potential to be used for better things than reviving a genocidal lunatic.

"But it sounds like there's more you want to know besides whatever Yuya told you. Can't say I know much of anything firsthand, but I've been caught up on some of the other stuff."

He's being awfully forthcoming about it. Well, that's probably fine. It's not like it'd do him any good to be cagey about it at this point. And if he's willing to answer questions... there are some things Rita was wondering about.

"The book I found said that the world itself was split into four..." she begins, looking thoughtful. "In that case, you and Yuya came from different worlds... right? How do you even know each other?"

"Well it all started with one asshole, Leo Akaba, in the Fusion Dimension. He started this dimensional war that only gave the Standard Dimension- Yuya's home, a bit of a scare... but completely wrecked the Xyz Dimension."

Obviously Yugo doesn't see the harm in being honest with such information. What would Rita do with it that could cause any harm?

"The Synchro Dimension's where I'm from. And the only reason I happened to jump into the mess is because Yuri, our Fusion counterpart, was sent out into the other three dimensions to kidnap..." Suddenly he pauses in thought, most likely to figure out how to phrase something.

But soon enough- "To kidnap the girls that are pieces of Leo's daughter in the same way we're parts of Zarc. But the main thing for me was the smug bastard took Rin and I was gonna get her back if it was the last thing I ever did...!"

Someone sure got passionate at the end there.

"Standard, Fusion, Xyz, and Synchro... those are the names for the four dimensions?" Rita surmises. And one of Yugo's counterparts is named Yuri? Seems like a weirdly common name, even across different worlds.

"And this 'Rin'... she's one of the four parts of that girl? --Wait, his daughter...?" That puts a few more pieces together, but the resulting picture is still pretty strange.

A lot of nodding out of Yugo as everything explained so far is knit together aloud into a story with admittedly many complicated and weird parts to it. Makes talking about it all even more tricky for good reason.

"Yeah his daughter- Ray is the one that managed to stop Zarc in the first place."

Though Yugo certainly hadn't seen the story himself, it also paints a clearer picture of the Scribe's rendition of their tale. Connecting Leo with the scholar and 'Ray' with the daughter who stepped up to fight the Demon in their stead.

"Yuya had to tell me about that part though." With a grimace of annoyance toward himself he also mutters- "Even Reira's more in the loop than I am..."

Imagine that. A seven-year-old happens to be more aware of the surrounding events than Yugo himself is. But that's what happens when your goal is so personal and straightforward compared to things like ending wars or saving the world from evil.

Well, that helps her put a few names to the vaguely-presented characters in that book. But...

"Huh...? Reira knows about all this stuff?"

Sure, she's Yuya's friend and all, but she's also a little kid. Rita wouldn't have expected her to know much about anything, let alone this.

"As far as I can tell. Maybe she was there with Yuya and the others the whole time while Leo was apparently talking about all that, I dunno."

Short answer, perhaps Rita should ask the kid.

"I was kinda busy somewhere else with dueling Yuri." Then losing and getting his soul ~~eaten~~ absorbed.

“Dueling? You mean you fought him?” To Rita, the normal assumption is that they fought directly, and usually to the death. Which leads her to wonder, “...Did you kill him?”

This ‘Yuri’ is a part of Yugo... Would he be okay if something like that happened?

Ironically, those ideas wouldn't be too far off the mark. Yugo frowns, a clear sign that a detailed answer would open up a different can of worms.

"He was the one that won."

It seems he's definitely not feeling inclined to elaborate on this part of the topic.

That gives Rita pause.

... and the pause lasts for several long seconds.

"Oh." She doesn't know what to say to that. "Then you-- I mean, did he..."

Rita's not sure how to ask how that ended for Yugo.

"Uh... well it's kinda complicated. Zarc's plan depended on all of his pieces becoming one."

And then another awkward beat passes. "So. I guess you could sort of say I got eaten." he finally adds. Which would probably bring the Ringmaster's tendencies to mind.

"...Eaten!?"

Rita's not sure what she expected, but that definitely wasn't it. Her jaw hangs open for a few seconds as she tries to process that.

"I mean... how? And why would Yuri want to go along with a crazy plan like that in the first place?" Wouldn't reuniting Zarc mean the loss of the individuals, including himself?

A shadowy dragon head conjured from an evil aura, which Yugo could show with his memory album... however the teen keeps it to words and it's the best he can explain for the how. He did say it was complicated. As for Yuri...

"Well I'm not gonna pretend that I know what was going on in his head. But my guess is that he got a 'good' high from all the power and hate Zarc brought out."

The very definition of batshit insane really.

"Great... sounds like a real winner, that one," Rita mutters. Given how Yugo and Yuya are, she was willing to entertain the notion that perhaps all of them were unlike Zarc, that they'd all grown to be their own people. Sounds like at least one of them didn't quite grow beyond that ugly past of theirs.

"If he was trying to join all the pieces, does that mean Yuya, too...?" Rita folds her arms, considering some of the uncomfortable possibilities.

"And after all that... how are you here now?" If he was eaten, or fused, or whatever it was that happened to him...

"Good question. But you'd have to ask Yuya about that. Or maybe Reira instead, if you don't want to get him all upset."

Helpful. But at least there's something else that he can concretely answer for her. Kinda.

"And... I'm not really sure how I managed to find my way back to the Ringmaster for a contract, just that I knew I didn't wanna be stuck in someone else's head." Then he shrugs. "So that's what happened."

"I see..."

Rita turns her head away and gazes off into the distance. She didn't expect she'd come out of this feeling bad for Yugo, but... that's just an objectively shitty situation.

"Thanks... for telling me about this." It might seem like Rita's not very used to saying thanks, as she almost seems to struggle with the word. But she recognizes that she pursued this line of questioning out of her own selfish curiosity, and ended up learning about what was probably a horrific experience for Yugo. "I think I understand you guys a little better now."

"Hey it wasn't too much trouble. It's... just a lot to take in, eh?"

Yugo's face remains solemn as he says that, but only because the lesson is sinking in for him just a little bit that it's important to stop and think about one's own actions every once in a while.

Maybe it's finally time to shift the topic.

"But what about yourself?" he says, finding a small grin to put on his face that could be forced of all things- hard to tell. "With how much we run into each other, I barely know a thing about you! ... Besides who you are and how much you're into science stuff."

"Hm?" Rita looks back to him, eyes briefly widening in surprise. She didn't expect him to turn around and ask her about herself.

"What, like, my life story?" She's not really sure where to begin with that. "Not sure I've got anything to match a story like that..."

But she'll go ahead and give him something. It's true; Rita doesn't talk about her past that much, and it's not like she has anything to hide. "...I grew up in a place called Aspio, the City of Scholars. Almost everyone there was a researcher of some kind, including me. As soon as I was old enough to read, I started and never stopped, and before long, I became one of Aspio's top scholars." It's said with a distinct sense of pride. "Didn't have any friends or family, but I had books and blastia, and for a long time, I figured that was enough."

"Wow, so you've worked that hard for a really long time huh?"

He looks genuinely impressed, if only because it dwarfs his own experience in machines in comparison. Actually that brings up another minor question in his head. But first he wants to know...

"What's a blastia?"

"It's a kind of magic device. Where I'm from, blastia are used for all kinds of practical, everyday purposes. Larger ones can generate barriers to protect entire cities, while some are small enough to wear on one's body... like this one." Rita gestures to the gold choker on her neck, brushing the red jewel set in it with her fingertips.

"In my world, humans can't use magic naturally, so mages like myself need to wear a blastia in order to convert energy for spells."

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⇨ CAMPING GROUNDS

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