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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[BIG CATCH-!]

After being shown around the various games in Shabon by various others, Reira seems to be breaking apart her vacation time a little more properly. Certainly, she's still dedicating a good hour or two of time each day to magic practice. Especially since she got new advice from Strange. Trying to control the wind she feels and 'is' has to lead to some sort of break through.

But aside from that, Reira is slowly doing what most kids would have started off with immediately- which is enjoying the games. She doesn't think she can take any home, but there are more than a few stalls where people are challenged with using rice-paper nets to catch what look to be tiny little goldfish-turtles; each one with a number on their front, cooresponding to a type of prize. She's doing her very best to catch them!

Which is unfortunately very difficult, with the size of her hands at the moment. These hands are more like wings than anything, so it's extra difficult.

"Hah-!" She's managing though.

"Oh- no!" ...Mostly, at least, given that the netting broke to let the fish through again.

[What's in a Name?]

One of the many souvenirs one can obtain in Shabon are stamps. Custom stamps, for signing papers and forms and things, with names. Some of them come with glittery ink, others with ink that smells like flowers, but the most important part is the matter of a name.

Reira sits around a small bench and table with a series of stamps and notes, her daemon sitting with her in the form of a fox. The two seem remarkably focused on something about the stamps, with Reira in particular brushing her fingers over the characters she just recently printed onto the paper. "...'Light'..."

"...Suits us," mutters the Daemon, and Reira finds herself nodding in agreement.

"Mnh. But you still don't..." Reira doesn't finish her statement, simply looking to the deep-voiced fox blankly. As of late, its voice has started to be a little more constant. It's still unnervingly deep and commanding, and it's somehow impossible to call it male or female, but it's at least no longer the echoing many-voiced mess it started as in Greysol.

To that end, the daemon merely blinks. "...We are close, though."

Close to what is the question- it may be best to ask, if anything.

[WILDCARD - For the remainder of the event, Reira will be just about everywhere; playing a few games, practicing magic, and occasionally even buying something to bring back to the Carnival (she brings these things directly there, so she doesn't forget- so she could be spotted on a return trip within the Carnival itself!). If you have an idea, hit her up!]

“Having trouble?”

The muffled, familiar, and probably unwelcome voice from behind her is the calmest that Reira ever remembers hearing it. Lambert stands there in a red haori with a paper bag of taiyaki incongruously tucked into the crook of his arm. Why his voice is muffled is clearly evident as he takes away the taiyaki he was munching contentedly on from its mouth, it’s cheesy filling oozing.

Reira looks up to blink when she hears Lambert- the sound of his words accompanied not only by the crunching and munching, but also by the sound of a 'splash' as the turtlefish flee from her paper net again.

There is a bit of rustling, and in addition to her ever present sparrow, a small flying squirrel makes its presence known.

And speaks. "THE SCALED ONES CHEAT!" it proclaims quite petulantly with their deep and curiously booming voice, their partner taking things far better.

"...The net keeps breaking..."

Lambert blinks slowly, glancing from Reira to the daemon and back. He hadn’t realized she’d kept it ... but then again, it’s not like he’s cared to pay much attention to her at all.

In any case, he finishes off his taiyaki and rearranges his clothes so he can squat down beside Reira, paper bag still tucked into the crook of his arm.

“Show me how you do it,” he orders. The owner of the stall begins to pipe up, but Lambert flicks a coin — well over what the game probably costs a play — and the protest subsides, a fresh net handed over.

The explanation is simple. Reira takes the new net- a flat hoop with rice paper in the middle. And brings it toward the water, holding her dish near. "You have to scoop the fish," she explains, squinting to try and focus. It's...tricky. Her own hands block the view. "And get it into the dish before it breaks...but..."

Well.

Water. Rice paper. A lack of time to see if it's in...

"Hmm." Lambert tilts his head, considering. Reira has a pretty serious handicap with those feathery hands, considering (and when did she get those? He clearly hasn't been paying enough attention.

"Have you actually seen anyone do it? This isn't just a cheap fair trick?"

He can't help smirking as the stall owner -- a heavyset woman who most closely resembles a giant chicken -- sputters, puffing up. Well, they did come from a carnival that used to recruit people by tricking them. Doesn't hurt to ask.

The stall owner doesn't take too long to calm down though- not when an alien looking toddler a few feet off starts breaking into cheers. "It's about speed, and skill," she proudly huffs as the tot displays their little dish with a fish, before busying herself with getting the fish thing into a bag.

The result is Reira pouting at the water for a minute, before rather aggressively trying to splash something into the dish. "HFFF-!!"

"SCARE THEM IN!!" That's not helping, daemon.

Lambert doesn't startle at the daemon's shout, though he does give it a curious glance.

"Pretty lively, aren't you?" He asks, though the tone of his voice makes it clear it's more an observation than a question he expects a serious answer to. But to the stall owner's words, he only laughs, shaking his head at Reira.

"It's also about using your head," he tells her. "Look -- when only part of it is wet, it's going to tear more easily because some of it is heavier, right? Dip the whole thing in, it won't break as fast."

The daemon puffs- which in this case makes it look rather like a cotton ball- with pride. "We are FILLED with life!!" Very proud.

Reira is listening though, and blinks- fortunately still in possession of a whole 'pon' due to not yet going for a fish. Blinking, she slowly dunks the entire thing in, guiding it toward a fish. "Umnnh..."

The daemon leans over. Reira leans over. And...

Splsh.

"AH!" Fish-! "It's in!!"

Lambert smirks, rocking his weight back on his heels. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

It's a good feeling, being useful, even if it's something this small and relatively inconsequential. "Are you taking that back to the carnival?"

Reira doesn't quite answer, but given the wide smile, is at least somewhat in agreement. She seems even more excited at the suggestion- "...I can do that..?!"

"Where to keep..." mutters the daemon, Reira momentarily ignoring them. There are more important things. Such as-

"Um! Thank you. ....Yuuya only showed me the candy cutting game, so I was stuck..." To be fair they kinda spent hours on the candy game. On the one hand he was thrilled to see her be a kid about something.

On the other, HOURS-!

"I'm pretty sure we can keep whatever we get here."

No side of Lambert, however, has any insight into how to keep an animal that isn't a horse or a hound, so Reira's on her own there. He's got no idea what the 'candy game' is, either, but the mention of Yuya has him looking a little thoughtful.

"Was this earlier?" he asks. "I ran into him myself, but he was pretty quick to take off."

Considering the shine in her eyes, she's quite eager to keep the little guy at least.

Maybe she can find a tank or something. Anyway.

Reira's focus snaps back, and her daemon as well seems to stare. "Um! Yeah. He showed me the candy game after Ginko and Tanyuu made the 'Shichi-Go-San' party for me..."

"It is for Seventh Year ones..!"

Among others. Anyway, that's not what seems important to her right now- not entirely. Reira frowns. "...why did he run away..?" That's what taking off means right?

“Seems like he took something I said the wrong way.” Lambert waves a hand vaguely, but there isn’t any real regret in his tone of voice, only a faint consternation.

“But he left before I could say ask. You wouldn’t know anything about it, would you? Why his soul is split apart?”

Edited 2018-10-01 14:54 (UTC)

Yuuya takes a lot of things the wrong way. That isn't anything new.

What he took the wrong way isn't new either, but still makes sense though. Reira bolts stiff and upright, eyes wide. Her daemon for once, has more tells. "SECRET!" it yelps, ducking intto the hair. "We promised!!"

"Umm-!! Th...that's..." Reira swallows, looking away. "...We mentioned some things to you, I think, but he got mad about that..." She is only saying as much because she DID talk about it to Lambert before, on that note. But. "..."

She wonders if the promise covers Lambert or not, for that reason...

Now that’s an interesting reaction — but the information is new, too.

“He got angry about that?” He raises his brows, not mocking, but to express his own confusion. Because honestly, he has good reason for it. “All you did was tell me about your contract. What was so bad about that?”

Reira chews her lip- still looking to the side, and even taking a moment to take her new turtle fish as it's handed over in a bag. Her fingers twist over themselves and then over the knot of the bag, as she tries to sort out her internal dilemma.

"...Yuuya was why I had to make the contract though...remember?" she says quietly, looking up after a short bit.

"Claimed it HIS story, and 'not ours'!" the daemon huffs irritably, the topic still sore.

“I still don’t understand why he’d be angry about that,” Lambert says, honestly. “Why would he be angry about anyone finding out he made a contract to deal with someone who tried to destroy the world. I’m pretty sure half the Carnival’s made contracts for worse reasons.”

“Are you taking that or not?” the stall owner interrupts at this point, clearly annoyed to have people jabbering and taking up room at her stall instead of actively playing the game. Lambert snorts and motions for Reira to hand it over.

“Did he ask you not to tell anyone?” That’s what he has to assume the daemon’s reaction means.

"Umn-!" Reira holds it closer- she's taking it, she's taking it! And steps back from the game to make room for other patrons. For a moment, both her and her daemon are silent- unsure of what to say, and how to say it. Eventually however...

"...It's my story too, the part I wanted to tell," she mutters a little bitterly, frowning. "And..." She blinks, and breathes. "...Yuuya told me not to talk about my contract anymore, or say he was why I made it."

"...Already told You, however..." the daemon observes, squinting. Reira, as if only now realizing that, jolts her head upright.

"Umn...! ...R...Right, I already told you everything about the contract... I just didn't explain who Zarc was..." ...Which is probably the far more personal bit if she thinks about it. Bugger. She stares for a moment, before asking- "...What...did you say to Yuuya? ...About being a soul piece?"

It's interesting phrasing. But it's note worthy phrasing. Reira doesn't view Yuuya as being IN pieces.

She views him as being a piece.

Edited 2018-10-01 21:38 (UTC)

“That his soul breaking apart worked out for him, so maybe it wasn’t a bad thing.” Yuya isn’t really someone any version of Lambert could perceive as incomplete, so he doesn’t consider it an insult — just a testament to Yuya’s own resilience.

Though what Reira says has him thinking. While he’s pondering over that, the seller hands him back a neatly bagged fishturtlething, and it’s while he’s holding it out to Reira and speaks, slowly.

“Are you and Zarc part of Yuya?” If a sliver of his soul had attempted to destroy the world and another part was, well, Reira, Lambert could kind of understand why Yuya wouldn’t want that spread around.

Hmm. Hmm.

On the one hand, (as she takes this lovely turtle fish), Lambert is...

Super Duper Wrong!!

And she should probably not correct him, or tell him the truth. ...Except one of two things will probably happen then. Either Lambert will assume he's right and really scare Yuuya (bad), or...

...Or he'll figure it out anyway. Holding her turtle fish bag, she's finding herself puffing her cheeks while trying to figure out how to handle that. It's not great.

Eventually she just looks a little dryly at Lambert. "......I don't have Yuuya's face," is what she starts with. "...Or Yuugo's. Or Zarc's." Thereeee's yer sign.

"But Zarc breaking into pieces isn't what happened to you, or everyone else," she continues easily. "...Because you're not a baby right now. ...And the world didn't break into two like lots of the others are," she adds- that part is Extra important after all.

“I don’t know what Zarc looks like,” Lambert points out sensibly, “And you’re little. You could still grow into Yuya.”

It’s a little dad humor to lighten what apparently seems to be a bigger deal to her than Lambert really grasps.

“So Yuya and Yugo were part of Zarc,” is what he gets out of what she’s saying. “What’s this about the world breaking, now? Did Zarc do that too?”

Hoof!! "...Mn-nh. ...That's 'stupid'," she determines, re-using that handy little word she's starting to pick up on.

"...can we sit down?" she says quietly, her daemon jumping down to take the form of a fox. "...it's a big story. ...and it's not one that should have 'guesses', so I have to make sure I say everything."

"I wouldn't know that, which is why I'm asking. None of you talk much about where you're from." Of course, he also doesn't really talk to Reira and Gongenzaka, and he spends most of his time with Yuya unloading his woes. Ordinarily, Lambert would wonder where she picked up the habit of saying that. It's none of his concern, though, and he isn't even overly insulted by her using it, just responding with a shrug and a slightly self-deprecating grin.

"But of course we can sit down." He'll let her lead the way to wherever she likes, betraying no impatience at however long it takes.

Edited 2018-10-03 23:10 (UTC)

Mysteries, Lambert. ~~Paradoxical ones~~.

There's no real preference to where they sit- a nearby bench suits just fine, and after Reira sets her fish bag gently in the small space between herself and the bench's arm, she takes her daemon into her lap to begin.

Having them here in reach helps a bit, somehow.

"....Where Yuuya, Gongenzaka, and Yuugo, and I are from, there are four dimensions," she begins. "All in the same world, I guess. Standard, where Yuuya, Gongenzaka, and I lived. Fusion. Xyz. And Synchro, where Yuugo is from. ...Before any of us really existed though... ...There was only one dimension."

"A Peaceful place. ...But soon, destroyed."

Reira nods, and fortunately clarified. "...Niisama's dad, 'Leo', made Solid Vision in that dimension. It gave the card monsters bodies, so they could fight in duels. Even though they were real though, they didn't want to hurt anyone. They liked, um..."

"Spars! Theatre!" barks the daemon.

"...It wasn't real fighting, anyway. Most people thought they were just cards...but..."

"Here, Zarc existed. Big- like you," the fox insists, not really thinking about how actually old Lambert is.

And again, Reira nods. "...Zarc was a duelist who could hear the spirits of the monsters. So he agreed with them. ...but he accidentally hurt someone with them once, and the people watching made him do more duels like that. ...The monsters still didn't like it...but he kept going. And going. And..."

"...Anger. Hate! He won, and craved more!"

"...Zarc used his cards to fuse with his four favorite monsters, his dragons. ...And together, all of the hate and anger could hurt people, even if the monsters didn't want it before. He wanted to hurt people for making the monsters hurt each other."

Reira quiets- and is again prompted onward as her daemon rubs their head against her chin before looking to Lambert with their eerie, near white eyes. "....He won," it repeats, and the girl nods.

"...Leo felt bad. ...he made 'solid vision'...and all of this happened because of it. So he took all the power of the earth, and made four cards to stop Zarc."

"Flowers. Birds. Wind. Moon."

"...But his daughter, Ray-neesama, stole the cards to face Zarc instead. She stopped him...and the cards did their job."

"Split, one to four. Reset, and begin again."

"Ray broke into four people, and Zarc, too. One for each dimension that the old one broke into. Inside each, a little bit of Ray and Zarc stayed, too. Because Zarc wanted to be one person again, and Ray wanted to stop it. ...But everything went to before it was destroyed, but different."

"Leo was the same. Most were. But small babies from Zarc and Ray, now had 'families'," the fox explains.

"Mnh. I don't know what kinds of families they had but...that was where Yuuya and Yuugo came from. They were their own people, though," she insists. "Pieces that grew up, with their own lives, and families..!"

"...But Leo remembered." the fox remarks grimly, and Reira lowers her head with a nod.

"...He wanted Ray-neesama back. ...So he tried to get her pieces. He destroyed Xyz, and tried to ruin the others...he put all of her pieces into a machine, until they lost their bodies..."

"And Zarc followed."

Reira bites her lip, continuing the story now that so much has already come forward. "...Yuuya... ...Yuuya tried to save Yuzu-neesama... ...But instead, the other pieces of Zarc fought each other, and made him fight...until Zarc took over, and used his body to come back. The four dimensions started to become one again, and he started to fight everyone, and try to destroy everyone... ...And everyone shouted for Yuuya," she continues almost monotonously, "...But Zarc wouldn't let Yuuya out. And no one could beat him."

"Ray, could."

"...But even though Leo used the machine to try to bring her back, she didn't have a body yet. Just a ghost. ...but...."

"We heard her cry. 'Let me help'!"

"...no one was able to stop Zarc. ...Leo even had the cards back, and he couldn't. ...But Ray could. She just needed a body," she whispers, not looking to Lambert. "...'Mom' said... ...'You're empty. A puppet'. ...Puppets don't have souls," her soft voice drones. "...So I told Ray there was room, and took her to fight Zarc.

"And while we fought, Yuuya took his body back...and helped us win. But Zarc tried to break it into pieces again to start over. No Yuuya, Yuugo, anyone...New people. People who wouldn't remember."

"Thus we Refused."

"...So I pushed Ray out. And pulled Zarc in," she hisses. "So that Yuuya, and the others, could be them. So the dimensions wouldn't break. ...I made the magic move faster, so that instead, Zarc would have to be a baby with me, and start over that way."

Her daemon has no more words.

Reira however, eyes still glued to the ground as a few tears gather, does.

"...Zarc... ...didn't want to be angry, anymore..." she says quietly. "...Before Yuuya's contract made the Ringmaster get me...get me and Zarc before we were 'gone', I felt his soul, and all his feelings. ...He... ...he was sad. Sad, and tired, and sorry, and scared. You can't make a feeling lie," she sniffs. "...He needs a new chance, to live, even if Yuuya doesn't believe me... ...They're not the same, like he's not the same as Yuugo."

Her daemon still has no words.

And it appears Reira finally has none herself.

POST SHICHI-GO-SAN | DAY 94 - 99 | OTA

WILD CARD

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