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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Probably... hppefully. Yuya gives Rita a reassuring look to mask his own apprehension.

"I don't know exactly what's happening, but... you definitely won't stay split like this. We'll find a way to get you back together."

Otherwise, things are about to get a lot more confusing and difficult in the carnival.

That gives Rita pause.

It sounds like he's trying to reassure her, but she doesn't look all that comforted. On the contrary, she knits her brow and looks away. "Is that really a good idea, though? I mean... What if it's better this way?"

Yuya blinks slowly, leaning back when she looks away.

"It's not." He sounds so certain when he says it. "We don't even know what's happening, or if it's hurting you. But even if it's not, you're fine the way you are. And you're better whole."

And not... whatever this is. Probably fractional, if his own experience is something to go by.

Rita shakes her head. "You don't know that. The other Rita... she couldn't be happier to be rid of me." She doesn't blame her counterpart, either. She's just been holding her back, hasn't she?

"And I... if it wasn't for this, I probably wouldn't have been able to spend this time with you, so... maybe I'm better off, too."

"Eh? I don't know about that." He scratches his cheek. "I probably would have bothered you to hang out with me anyway."

Much like other times. Yuya doesn't mind being the one to initiate things, though, but he hopes Rita hasn't forgotten his persistence.

He shrugs a shoulder. "Besides, what's it supposed to fix? You're fine the way you are."

A tinge of redness creeps into Rita's complexion. "I don't..." She doesn't seem to know how to finish that thought, and she swallows, trying to think of what to say. If it was anyone else, she might find the sentiment hollow, but with Yuya... he probably means what he's saying. But...

"Even if you think so, I apparently thought otherwise," she points out with some reluctance. "I'm not saying we shouldn't investigate what happened..." Because if Yuya's right about one thing, it's that they don't know for sure if there aren't any other effects to worry about. "But if staying like this means one of me gets to go on and live her ideal life, then why ruin that?"

"How's this ideal?" Yuya's expression sinks a little. "I think I can say better than most people that being in separate pieces isn't a perfect solution."

And he considers his situation to actually be a problem that needed a solution. Why would Rita benefit from having some sort of weird separation in herself. "It comes with a lot of problems too, like getting blamed for stuff the other person with your face does."

And having the evil violent piece pushing all of you to merge into a single powerful monster to destroy the world... but that's probably just a him problem. "Maybe... maybe you got separated based on the parts you'd want to keep? But you're still missing stuff that makes you Rita. Both of you."

Edited 2018-09-10 02:53 (UTC)

"I know I'm missing stuff," Rita mutters, staring down at her feet. She could probably name a number of those things she's missing, that the other Rita certainly took with her.

"But I doubt she feels like she's missing anything at all."

"Have you talked to her about it? I can't imagine any piece of Rita that isn't smart enough to realize something's gone... and that this isn't better at all." He offers her a smile. Rita's a logical person, and there's a dozen logistical issues with being suddenly cut into two people like this.

"We didn't really get that far," she says, not sounding terribly optimistic. "She just wanted me out of the way so she could focus on work. I didn't push it." Largely because her pushier side resides in the other Rita right now.

She's not convinced that reuniting is such a smart idea, but she won't bother arguing. Yuya seems pretty convinced of his stance.

"You could try talking to her, if you want. But I wouldn't get my hopes up." Rita knows full well how stubborn she can be, especially when she thinks she's right about something.

"I will. Later." He's optimistic Rita can be reasonable about this, but he can tell this side of Rita doesn't seem to have her usual confidence. She'd believe it more if the other one does, probably.

"But right now we're enjoying our vacation, right? If the other you is stuck in her work, you'll just have to have all the fun until you're back together."

Rita looks up at him in surprise.

"...You sure? I mean... I'm still just..."

All this talk about how she needs to get back together with her other half... she was starting to think he didn't want to be around this half of her.

"We're already here, right?" He grins cheekily. "And it's kinda nice seeing you let yourself have fun."

He leans forward a bit, pressing his hands against the rock. "And Rita's pretty great, no matter what side. That's why you're better together... but until we know how to fix it, you don't have to force yourself to be unhappy."

Just as long as it isn't putting off coming back together because she thinks this is better or something. Which reminds him of something. "Um, can I ask what happened when you split up?"

Rita's face reddens as that sinks in. She's not sure what to say...

But then he asks her about the initial incident, and she focuses on that instead. "Strange and I were talking. The topic got to Ignatius, and it turned into an argument, like it always does..." She frowns. It's not like she wants to fight with him all the time like this...

"Things got heated, and then this other Rita just... came out of me, I guess, and stormed away."

Like it always does? He knows it was a little heated when they went to talk in Eden...

Yuya rubs the back of his neck. "Maybe that's what caused it? Being upset." He looks hesitant, briefly, but maybe Rita should know, in case they run into each other.

"I think that's what it was when... Ignatius split when we were talking. One side walked off angry and the other one was really sad."

"Ignatius split...!?"

Rita's staring at him with a fairly horrified look. There's two of him?

"Wh, what do you mean, he... What happened!?"

Yuya holds his hands up in a panic, trying to calm her down. "I mean, it's like what happened with you! I was... telling him about what the Ringmaster said about not trapping him on that island. And I told him about how the Summer Maiden felt when she left and I guess it upset him?"

He never did tell Rita what his deal with Ignatius ended up being, did he? There's a lot of missing context here. "I don't think he's causing any problems! We would have definitely heard it by now."

Edited 2018-09-11 21:43 (UTC)

Yuya's trying, but what he's actually saying is just making her more confused and anxious.

"W-we can't just wait around until there's a problem!" Rita cries, her expression betraying more fear than it normally would. She wrings her hands, trying to think of what to do about this. To start with, she can't quite understand what Yuya's talking about. "What were you even... what about the Summer Maiden?"

"Hey, hey--" Yuya springs to his feet, almost jumping in front of her as he crouches to her level and reaches quickly for her hands. He hopes, if he can grab them, that the squeezing gesture is enough to get her to stop and listen to him.

"It's okay. No one's getting hurt from this..." Well, except maybe Iggy. "You remember when we visited the Summerlands. right? I got to speak to her then, and she told me... I told him how she felt when she left the Summer Court. I guess some people Ignatius cared about left with her."

And he'd had a possibly distorted view why. It was a little crushing.

"W, we don't know that..." Rita protests, though she doesn't fight his grasp.

She's antsy, but her gaze meets Yuya's as he speaks, and she takes a moment to consider his words. "That's what he's upset about...?"

It's only half-surprising. Rita already knows Ignatius isn't as emotionally invulnerable as she once thought. She didn't think he had any friends who turned rebel, though.

Yuya nods, letting the silence linger as he considers his words. He wants to explain this to Rita, but more than that he wants to assure her. He wants her to trust things can be okay.

He offers her a smile after a moment. "The Summer Maiden stopped believing the Fae could change, so his friends might have felt the same. But I think he can change. If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't trust him like this."

But he sees, he's sure, a real chance to change even on a small scale the relationship between Fae and mortals. Even Rita saw it, and Strange who once didn't believe any peace was possible either. He really wishes it wasn't like this, but given everything the carnival has to come to trust him as much for him to trust them.

As he's holding her hands, Yuya might notice she's started to tremble.

"What do you mean, you trust him...?" she asks, eyes wide, as if receiving some terrible news. Because as far as Rita's concerned, that's pretty much what this is.

That's a stronger reaction than Yuya expects. He squeezes her hands firmly, trying to reassure her.

"I mean, I trust he's not going to hurt us with every opportunity he gets. I trust we can reach an understanding and..." He looks down briefly, then back up at her. "You said you saw it, right? Something that wasn't just being overbearing and cruel. Like any person. I think you were right. And maybe we don't always have to be scared and running from them. That can change."

"I... but..."

She did say that. And now she's regretting it. First Strange, now Yuya? Are all of her friends going to try to befriend Ignatius?

"What if it can't change?" she asks, her voice weak. "What if he just seizes the first chance he gets to get back at us? It... it'll be my fault..."

"Uh--" Yuya glances aside awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "It'll probably be more my fault..."

Yeah, she might be part of why he took them. But Yuya's part of why they're giving him liberties. He looks back at Rita. "But I think he's already had chances, and he hasn't. I know I'm not that smart, but I wouldn't believe in trying if I really didn't see any proof."

He's a more forgiving person, of course, but only because Ignatius has shown remorse and conflict. People can get better, that much he has to believe.

"I don't want to spend the rest of my time here like this. I don't want to be afraid they'll find my home when I leave, and I don't want the Ringmaster to live on the run forever. If this is a chance to change that, then I want to take it."

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