lostcarnival | ⇨ SHABONDAMASHII

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⇨ SHABONDAMASHII

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 92 - Day 99
Where: Shabondamashii Bathhouse
What: With the Silver Mirror claimed and the animals of Eden relocated, it's time for the carnival to kick back and enjoy an interdimensional bathhouse and the surrounding festival city. Meanwhile, the scattered shards of the Mirror have an unexpected effect.
Warnings: Dark/Light halves acting weird.

THE BIG CLEANSE↴

As the carnival recovers, the Ringmaster has brought it to the gates of a famous interdimensional bathhouse to rest. She won't be joining you for most of it, though she will be checking in frequently and available by radio. She's fixed a large portion of the Silver Mirror after it shattered, but it seems like pieces are missing. She doesn't want to rest until the missing shards are dealt with, and the Mirror itself is locked away safely.

► YOUR OTHER HALF: The shards missing from the Silver Mirror didn't just disappear - after breaking apart in Eden, fragments of the object embedded themselves in the spirits of those not already touched by its powers, and those that had been the most fae-touched. That means, your characters. The effect of this, explained in more detail on the plotting post, is that some characters will be splitting into two versions of themselves: the Light, and the Dark. This doesn't mean good and evil, of course, it's far more complicated than that.

Splits can start happening at any time after arriving in Shabon, and initially characters won't know how to rejoin with their twins. Later on, it will become apparent that they need to reconnect via the shard of the Mirror they share... of course, in order to rejoin, you have to have both halves, and not all twins will be as eager to go back to the way things were before. This plot point is optional.

► SPA DAY: When you're not engaging in metaphysical division, you are free to enjoy the many luxuries that Shabon offers. Things will mostly have an east-Asian bend, like what you would see in the movie Spirited Away, but as long as it doesn't affect the setting much, you can honestly have whatever spa-type services available that you want. Food is served both in restaurants and 'buffet' style. There are also well paid sex workers here, if that is your thing, but make sure to tip well.

► FESTIVAL TOWN: The city surrounding Shabondamashii is largely meant to catch the business of interdimensional tourists. There are frequent parades and other events held, and the architecture is very closely packed. It's easy to get lost if you leave the bathhouse, but it's definitely worth it if you like party. You can pick out a few outfits for yourself and some fun nick nacks, but nothing that would normally require mod approval.

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Rita follows, keeping up despite her lack of enthusiasm.

"You sure didn't waste time familiarizing yourself with this place," she comments, in a tone suggesting that she doesn't consider that a valuable use of time or energy.

"I like exploring new things," Strange shrugs, as if that's a good enough explanation. "Besides, I did something like this in the Summerlands and I loved it." Naturally he'd want to see if he could do the exact same thing again as well as try new, fun, and different things.

Plus, there's the fact that after floating in a mirrored featureless void for three or so days, Strange is a bit more touch-prone than he was before. He turns a corner, gesturing for Rita to follow him some more.

"Hmph... can't say I've ever done anything like this, regardless of the world. Never heard of a spa that didn't sound like a complete ripoff. But if we're not expected to foot the bill with our own money, then... whatever." Rita's not one to worry about money too much normally, but even she'll balk at a price with that many zeroes. Combined with her general disinterest in beauty treatments, there's just no justifying it.

"Hey, so..." If they have a minute before getting there, she might as well ask now. "Are you okay? I mean, after everything that happened with the Mirror." Since the battle ended, the most Rita's done to check up on Strange was stop by and make sure he's alive. Beyond that, she really doesn't know if he made it out without ill effect.

Strange has no idea how to answer Rita's question. On the one hand, giving her the actual answer of 'not really, mostly because I'm worried I got off a bit easy compared to some others' or 'not really, mostly because I have no idea what happened in between the Mirror shattering and the Ringmaster finding me in a forest' both would end up with Rita most likely yelling at him for being an idiot. But on the other hand, he loathes the idea of lying.

So, he splits the difference with being vague.

"I've got to be," Strange simply responds, with a shrug. "We still have numerous fae trying to track us down and one more Miracle to find. I can figure things out and mull things over once that's all finished."

He gets a dry look. If he was hoping she'd be content with a vague answer, he may have missed the mark.

"That's hardly an answer," Rita points out, then adds in a grumble, "but, fine. It's not like I was worried."

"You were definitely worried," Strange teases Rita. But, since she's called him out on his vague answer and he likes her too much to leave it there, Strange pauses for a moment and tries to put his feelings into words.

"I don't know if I'm okay. To the best of my knowledge, the Mirror hasn't changed me like the Rose changed Syrlya and Steven." It has, but since Strange doesn't have x-ray vision, he doesn't know the extent of it's changes yet. "I'm not one of the ones recovering from iron—which I'm glad for, of course, but feel a little guilty about. And since I don't know how the Ringmaster extracted me from the Mirror, I don't know how I should feel about it. I don't want to even touch the damn thing again, but I'm already thinking of ways to recreate what the inside of the Mirror was like with my own magic."

Feelings are stupid. Strange looks over at Rita with a little frown. He knows that she barely has any idea how to deal with emotions herself, but if she's got any advice on sorting out the contradictory mess inside his mind, he'll take it.

Rita frowns when he contradicts her, but listens as he goes on.

"Hmph... No point in feeling guilty about what's already done. But if you had any sense, you'd give that Mirror stuff a rest for a while. Not that I don't see the value in it..." Rita can't dismiss the fact that the techniques he used back there were pretty darn helpful, though she'll credit the Mirror for that before congratulating Strange any. "To be honest, I'd like to try studying that Mirror myself. Collecting these artifacts won't do us any good if we don't learn how to use them."

She sighs, waving a hand as if to dismiss that thought. "But anything to do with that will have to wait until the Ringmaster finds the rest of those shards."

"You can be the one to study it," Strange remarks with a little smile. "I'm not going anywhere near that thing-and before you chide me about it or call me scared, I've a prophecy to tell me otherwise."

The Starlight's prophecy is good for something. Strange thought be careful of intimate connections meant don't trust Ignatius. Now he's certain it means be careful of the Mirror. Nothing more intimate than being inside something.

Speaking of Mirror shards... "Do you know what happened after she broke it? Obviously, I couldn't see what happened."

There's a flicker of incredulity in Rita's expression when Strange mentions a 'prophecy', but he moves on before she can question him about it.

Well, she can't blame him for wanting to know what happened while he was... whatever that can be described as. "The battle ended shortly after. The Serpent joined the fight, Lilith gave up and left, and her followers surrendered. After that, the Ringmaster started collecting the Mirror's shards while everyone else dealt with the wounded."

There's a pause, and then she takes the opportunity to ask, "What did you mean, a prophecy?"

Strange listens to Rita's explanation. He looks a little surprised when she mentions the Serpent. Good on them for finding her! He hadn't caught up with that one detail. The fact that the Mirror shattered into enough pieces that he Ringmaster has to catch them all is a little more worrying.

Rita's question takes him by surprise. In a matter of fact tone of voice, Strange starts to explain. "The Starlight left me a prophecy. I don't remember the specifics at the moment, the hard copy is back in my trailer, but it said something like 'the more intimate a connection, the deadlier it's lure.'"

And thus Rita learns that prophecies are the kind of woo that Strange eats up.

"The Starlight?" At first, there's a confused look on Rita's face, but she manages to recall something. "She's... a Summerlands fae, right?"

Yeah, Rita can't say she knows a whole lot about her.

"Didn't know you were the superstitious type..." She goes on to mumble, then stops as they turn a corner, finding a door. Notably, it has a large silhouette of a lotus flower engraved on it. She gives Strange a questioning look. "This the place?"

"Prophecies aren't superstition," Strange says in a 'no duh' tone of voice. But talk of prophecies shall be put on hold as they're actually at the room. Strange holds the door open as the two enter.

The set up of the room is more mall nail salon than luxurious spa day. There are plenty of chairs and some ambient music that is vaguely new age, but the design as a whole is vaguely utilitarian. As they enter, a woman walks up to greet them.

"Two for the pedicure package," Strange explains, smile on his face. With a nod, she leads them towards the chairs.

Rita lingers behind, seemingly hesitant, but the woman gestures for her to follow, and she does.

Looks like her newly changed feet won't be a problem for them, then...

She sits in the indicated chair, and the woman takes her sandals and explains that they'll begin with a soothing foot soak to soften and cleanse the skin... and fur, apparently. The woman then brings out a basin for each of them, filled with slightly foamy water with a mild floral scent, and leaves them to soak their feet for a few minutes.

The moment they're left to 'relax', Rita starts right where they left off. "If prophecies aren't superstition to you, then what are they?"

Despite the fact that he literally has only had a pedicure once before, Strange is acting like he knows what he's doing. He places his feet in the water and relaxes. A moment later, Rita continues the conversation.

"They're facts," Strange explains. "At least, if you have a proper fortune teller then they're facts. The prophecy about me was quite accurate as was the one about Childermass."

Something about Rita's defiant nature makes it particularly hard for her to relax when expected to. She remains somewhat tense in her seat, peering at her own submerged feet with curiosity.

“What do you mean, it was accurate? You can’t know that yet,” she sneers, not at all considering the possibility that there could have been two prophecies about Jonathan Strange. Then, less dismissively, “...Childermass had one too?”

Edited 2018-09-02 06:21 (UTC)

"I know it's accurate because it happened," Strange responds like it's super obvious. Thankfully, he quickly puts together the fact that he hasn't specified there were two prophecies and quickly explains.

"The Raven King's prophecy about me was accurate. As was the Starlight's one about Childermass. The Starlight's prophecy to me was framed more like advice so I'm not sure if it happened yet."

"Oh, I see. No wonder you're keen on them if the Raven King was the divining sort." If Strange looks over, he might catch Rita rolling her eyes. The magician's affection for the Raven King is almost as ridiculous, though not quite as intolerable, as his approach to Ignatius.

"...So? What kind of prophecy was it?" she goes on to ask, though her attention is partly still on her own toes, which she wiggles experimentally in the water.

"I don't remember the specifics," Strange admits. He closes his eyes a moment to try and remember.

"Two magicians shall appear in England. The first is fearfulness, the second is arrogance. The first shall fear me, the second shall long to behold me. Then there's a bit I don't remember...the rain shall make a door for me and I shall go through it. The nameless slave shall serve as king."

Strange sighs a little. "The long and short of it is that it described my mentor and I as well as our attempts to bring magic back to England."

"Hmm... Well, it's not like I really have enough evidence to dispute it." Implying that if she did have access to more information, there's a good chance that Rita would try to do just that.

With some semblance of humor, she adds, "Arrogance is pretty apt. The part about a slave becoming a king sounds like an even more impressive story, though."

Edited 2018-09-03 03:46 (UTC)

"That's the part that I know the least about," Strange admits. "England doesn't have slavery. I haven't a clue who this nameless slave might be or what kingdom he'd inherit."

Strange has a slight idea. If he had to pick anyone, he'd pick Stephen Black, the one person in this narrative who's role Strange isn't certain of. But he knows it's a TEENY BIT RACIST to assume that a black man is the nameless slave.

Rita just gives a thoughtful hum at that. "Whatever the kingdom, nobles usually aren't all that welcoming to common rabble trying to join their ranks," she says with some derision. Of course, as far as family status goes, Rita would probably rank somewhere among rabble herself. It's a good thing Aspio is somewhat removed from the social hierarchies of the capital; it means she doesn't have to deal with that crap.

The woman returns to attend to Strange's feet, while another worker comes to deal with Rita. They remove their feet from the water and set about filing the soles of their feet, trying to scrub off any rough, dried skin or callouses. While they're at it, they ask what color of nail polish they'd like. Rita, looking completely out of her element, hesitates to answer.

"That depends on the kingdom. It's entirely possible that the prophecy might be referring to a faerie kingdom, and that's something entirely different." After all, this whole business of rescuing Arabella and bringing magic back to England ended with Strange and Norrell murdering the master of Lost Hope. There's a perfectly good faerie kingdom out there, with no ruler. Perhaps it's referring to that?

But then, the workers show back up and Strange's attention is distracted. At the nail polish question, Strange answers without hesitation. "Orange—though more of a golden orange to match my scales." He looks over at Rita, who's obviously out of her element, and quickly decides to straight up answer for her. "And she'll take red, something close to her feathers."

Strange gets a brief, irritated look. She didn't ask him to choose for her!

But after giving it a moment of thought, Rita decides it's as good a choice as anything she would have come up with, and at least he did think to coordinate it with her appearance. "Fine," she sighs, "Let's go with that."

The workers compliment the excellent choice, then dry their feet and start clipping, filing, and treating the nails. Rita ends up having to flex her toes to allow the worker to do her job, but the woman acts like it's normal and she's previously worked with a hundred cat-feet just like these. ...Has she? Rita doesn't ask.

"How different could it be? I wouldn't think fae would be any more accepting. All mortals are as good as slaves to them, anyway." She scoffs.

And once again, we're back to Rita being kind of racist. Strange gives her a frown. It's obvious he's a little bit tired of having this argument but, as someone who loves arguing, he's going to keep having it as long as Rita continues to be so stubborn.

"You know that not all fae are the monsters you want them to be. The Ringmaster isn't. Those in the Summerlands aren't. Hell, Ignatius stuck to his word and freed me from my contract. So why do you insist that every fae behaves according to the worst representatives of their race? It's like saying all mortals act as I did in Portland."

It kind of sucks when you're the best example of a dirtbag you can think of but hey, what can you do.

Hearing that Strange was released from his contract is welcome news, but with the way he tells her, there's no time to celebrate, because Rita is immediately on the offense.

"How can you use Ignatius as an example of someone who's better than that!? He's not! He was going to keep you as a lifelong slave, you know!" Rita's twists around to face Strange as she yells at him, and the worker holding her foot gently reminds her to hold still. Grimacing, she leans back. "Sure, the Ringmaster's different. Maybe the Summer Maiden is, too. But the Courts, the majority of fae in the multiverse... the worst fae we've met are what they're like. They're the norm."

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