lostcarnival | ⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

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⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 119 - Day 126
Where: The Summerlands
What: Ignatius and Gild portal everyone to the Summerlands, with hopes of appealing to the Summer Maiden for help. Meanwhile, the carnival gets the chance to relax in luxury as only tentatively welcome guests. Here is the location write up from the last time the carnival visited. Since then, of course, some things have changed.
Warnings: Nothing in particular.

THE SUN RISES↴

After taking the time to rest, Ignatius and Gild will be able to pool together their energy to portal the carnival (and the airship) to the Summerlands. Those still in Polaris will be left to their own devices for the moment as Gild intends to ask for the Summerlands aid in relocating them, hopefully as soon as possible. With the effort the carnival put into sorting things out in there, however, they should be fine on their own for a little while, at least.

They will arrive in the flowery fields at the base of the mountains, and soon the Summer Fae will notice their presence. Since the last time they visited, however, the atmosphere has changed.

► YOUR ARRIVAL: As the Summer Fae discover the group's arrival, it will quickly become apparent that there is a tension present that wasn't there any of the other times the carnival has visited. The Summer Maiden comes to greet the group personally, with an entourage of armed Summer Fae. They are not at all aggressive unless provoked, but there is clearly a wariness that is new. They seem uncertain about Ignatius being here, and while Gild will be able to do a lot of the talking and smooth things over, the Summer Maiden will deflect having a serious conversation about affairs until the carnival has taken time to 'rest.' It's more likely that the Maiden needs a moment to think over this new information before dealing with it.

► SUMMER CITY: After the Summer Fae become aware of everyone's presence, and the initial uncertainties are accommodated, they will invite you into their city. There are stairs that lead up the sides of the mountains, but thankfully there are also magical means of getting up there as well. The Summer Fae will be willing to help workers with the injured as needed, offering herbal remedies and healing magic to those that want it. You'll also be invited to join them for dinner, but it feels like more of a formality, and no one is obligated to take them up on it.

► SUMMER PEOPLE: The fae here will do their best to entertain these new visitors - but it doesn't seem that much happens here besides day after day of peaceful meditation and relaxation. It is not uncommon to see Summer Fae spent days doing exactly the same thing, whether that be enjoying the weather, listening to music, or dancing - the day and night periods may be similar to earth, but when you don't need rest it can all blur together just the same. Some of the fae work on feats of agriculture or craftsmanship, and while there is no particularly need to work in this place, they take pride in the fact that they do.

► FAMILIAR FACES: One very different thing about the Summerlands this go around is that there appears to be a small settlement built at the base of the mountains, filled entirely with the former residents of the Manor. Alyss and Reyna will explain that they set up a place to live down there with the Summer Fae's help, and that the fae seems to be trying to remain hands off except when they are needed. The Manor folk overall seem to be doing well, though there is some tension regarding their place in the Summerlands - they are clearly seen as refugees, and while the Summer Fae do their best to help them, the arrival of the carnival and the request for even more help with refugee aid seems to be making things awkward.

► OF THINGS TO COME: The Summer Maiden will remain distant for the first few days, but according to Gild and based on personal observation, it will seem that the news that the Ringmaster has been taken and the idea that even more desperate mortals are requesting to come here are putting her at significant ill ease. She's not rude or dismissive, but she seems reluctant to address the situation head on, though she has said that she will hold a meeting with the carnival later in the week to discuss everything in more detail. None of them seem particularly angry or resentful, but they seem to regard the carnival as an ill portent of things to come.

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Strange shrugs! "I've no idea," he admits. "I've constantly been developing and refining my reflection magic, even before the Mirror changed me. I can try to piece out a spell but honestly, who knows what I can or can't do."

He seems very nonchalant about the idea that he doesn't know the limits of his magic. This isn't bothering Strange in the slightest.

It makes sense, in the sense of always pushing his limits to get further. Isn't that how they grow as people? Strange is powerful, but of course Yuya believes in his ability to take it further.

He pulls his hand out of the mirror. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn't know the limits of his magic, either. Like this spell.

"I don't know if this is permanent." He points at the reflection. Are they going to be mad if it is? "What happens to stuff you put in a reflection if it breaks or disappears?"

And once again, Strange shrugs. "I assume that the item disappears until I repair the mirror. I've reworked some of the theory of Childermass's shadow spell for this magic and, as far as I can tell, items hidden inside his shadow stay in the shadow even when he doesn't have one."

Though if the reflection wasn't stable and simply vanished due to magic...hmm. Strange doesn't know how that would work. He looks over at Yuya's reflection with a critical eye, as if staring at it will somehow help him figure out how it works.

Yuya watches Strange, expectant. The mirror is already starting to fade, if too slowly for their eyes to see it happen gradually. It won't tell them what's going to happen to the rock when it disappears, though.

"When would he never have a shadow...?" Does light work that way? He's not sure it works that way.

"I turn into smoke and Miss Akaba can turn into mist," Strange responds, with a little shrug. "I try not to take things we thought as truth as actual truth."

But that's just semantics. Strange looks at the mirror, watching it expectantly for any sort of change in the reflection.

"How long did you say you could hold these reflections?"

Using magic to turn into other forms isn't even remotely the same thing, but Yuya doesn't contest it.

"I don't know. This is my first time making it happen." He squints at the mirror, like he's somehow going to be able to see what Strange sees. "I could see if I can make it go away...?"

"That's a good idea," Strange responds, with a little nod. See if it vanishes or see if surprise, Yuya's mirror making magic is now permanent.

"It's always good to have a vague idea of your limitations before you decide to break them."

Yuya nods, approaching the reflection and hovering his hands over the reflection. He's a little uncertain since he only just got the first part of this down from enough fooling around, so he doesn't really know how to make is disappear. Maybe focus on it shrinking? Turning back into a normal wall?

He closes his eyes and scrunches his face, more to make it look like he's actually doing something when... absolutely nothing on the reflection changes.

He slowly looks at Strange over his shoulder with an anxious, sheepish expression. "I, uh, can't make it go away."

He just fucked up the wall (for five minutes).

Strange gives Yuya a big, happy, 'you can do it' encouraging sort of smile...which just kind of lingers on his face for a moment as absolutely nothing on the reflection changes. Well, that's to be expected. He did just piece out the spell, after all.

"In that case, I suggest you continue to practice making reflections on inanimate objects—preferably no city buildings or places of importance, of course."

He doesn't even know if the Summerlands has anything resembling a government, but better safe than sorry.

"Y... yeah." Yuya looks nervously at the reflection, with a rock in it, again. Someone can probably fix this? Probably.

"I'll do that! But let's go somewhere else." He spins on his heels, absently reaching for Strange's wrist to give it a tug to get him moving, honestly, anywhere else but next to the wall he just screwed up.

"Anyway, what's up? I don't think I asked how you're doing..."

Yuya succeeds in grabbing Strange's wrist. He's yanked a little to the side, but gets the memo and starts to follow Yuya towards...wherever the hell they're going next. Not here.

As for the question, Strange pauses a little before answering. Normally, he wouldn't be so hesitant about this but he's still got the memory of pretty much breaking down after Polaris at the top of his mind. Strange is acutely aware of his words and actions at the moment.

"Better than before," he admits, "though I've mostly been throwing myself into my magic. Have I shown you the shield spell I pieced out yet?"

Yuya picks a path completely at random, not knowing where the hell he's going either. He'd figure it out, but he ends up focusing more on what Strange says. His breakdown is on Yuya's mind, too, so he's not just asking to be polite.

"No, but you did say you were working on your magic..." He scratches his cheek, worrying over his lip as he carefully considers how he wants to phrase himself.

"You're not just... distracting yourself with magic, are you?" Instead of actually trying to cope with the trauma and loneliness.

Strange shakes his head. "I've had a few conversations that I needed to have." One with Peridot. One with Ignatius. Sooner or later, he'll have one with Lambert.

"But working on my magic feels good. And Lord knows that after a few of those conversations, I need to focus on something that makes me happy and relaxes me."

Fun fact: talking about your feelings sucks.

That explanation eases Yuya, and his shoulders relax as he smiles. "I'm glad you're talking to people."

Yuya, of course, sounds completely genuine about that. Not just because he's learned that talking about your feelings is ultimately healthier and more productive, but because he knows part of what's been troubling Strange has been rooted in loneliness and, frankly, trying to do too much by himself.

"As long as you're not bottling everything up, I think taking time to make happy memories makes it easier to get through things that are hard. Because we can hold onto them then."

Strange gives Yuya a small little smile of his own. He's not entirely sure just how many happy memories can be made here, what with the specters of Polaris and the future looming over them. But he gets what Yuya's saying.

"No, I'm certainly trying to keep things more open and actually talk to people now. I don't want to feel like how I felt in Polaris ever again."

Yuya nods once. He's pretty sure everyone can share that sentiment. Polaris was a dark time.

"Mm. I also mean... I'm glad because you have friends here that care about you. And I'm sure they want to support you and see you happy as much as I do."

Yuya, of course, has no idea about any of the drama that's been going down in any of Strange's other relationships. But he looks positive and full of faith.

"The problem, of course, is that I'm fairly certain some of my friends would rather I not do the things that make me happy." There's a brief pause before Strange hesitantly explains. "I need to find out more about the Silver Mirror. And in order to do so, my best option is talking to various members of the Winter Court. But I know Childermass would go for my throat the moment I make that suggestion!"

There's a lightness in Strange's voice, just a sort of teasing to hide the fact that he's honestly worried a little about so many things. And that's not getting into the fact that he's certain Childermass and Lambert still aren't too thrilled about his friendship with Ignatius which is something he's not giving up so they can suck it, but he also wants to make those two happy, and so on and so forth.

The Winter Court? Yuya pauses, furrowing his brow as he tries to remember all the details shared over the radio before.

"The Winter Queen lost the mirror a long time ago, didn't she? Who do you think knows more about the Silver Mirror?"

Besides the queen herself, who he's fairly certain won't want to entertain Strange's questions. There's genuine curiosity in his tone, like he expects a real answer from Strange that's been thought out.

"Queens can't do everything by themselves. The Winter Queen must have had retainers, servants, people who helped her in her day to day life. They might not know the ins and outs of how the Silver Mirror works, but they might have at least seen her use it. And honestly, with how little we know, I'll take any scrap of information."

Granted, he doesn't have any idea who those retainers and servants might be. Frost comes to mind but a: he doubts he can actually talk to Frost without summoning him or going straight to the Winter Court himself and b: Frost is a shit who most likely won't help at all. Still, they must have existed at some point. And hell, if there are still fae who know about the Blue Rose, then there might be some who know about the Silver Mirror.

"Maybe..." Yuya rubs the back of his neck. "I don't think Childermass doesn't want you to learn more about the Silver Mirror, but if that's the case... it's dangerous to get any closer to the Winter Queen, right? And the people around her. I guess it's like that for Steven, too, because he can't talk to the Rose Queen about anything that happened when he touched the Rose."

Really, going back to the Athenaeum would probably be a better bet, if they haven't been totally banned from it. "It's probably too dangerous for any of us to try and get closer to the Winter Court right now, when the Winter Queen's been after the carnival. But maybe there's other places we can get answers about the mirror."

"The problem there is that I doubt we'll go to any of those other places any time soon. I suspect most of the carnival will want to save the Ringmaster, so off to the Wyldlands we'll go." And, based on Strange's little frown, he doesn't think that the Wyldlands will be of any use in figuring out more about the Mirror.

"And after that, if we save the Ringmaster...well, my year's almost up. I'm going home as soon as it passes."

There's not much of a window of time and Strange suspects that there won't be any time in the window where he can actually go ask someone himself. He's frowning a little, though it's more of a contemplative frown than a mad at the situation sort of frown.

That's right. Yuya chews on his lip briefly. "I don't think we're going to the Winter Court anytime soon, either."

Not unless they're forced, anyway, so that stands to have the same problem. Unless Strange is planning on running off to the Winter Court on his own, but Yuya's going to hope he's not that reckless.

He perks up, then, turning on his heels to face Strange. "But you know, I still have almost another year before Gongenzaka's contract is over. Even if we leave, then, that's a lot of time I'll still be with the carnival. How about I keep looking into the mirror for you? And I'll make sure you get everything I learn."

If they manage to keep the Silver Mirror, and if they're still knee deep in fae business, Yuya thinks it's not a far stretch that there will be plenty of opportunity to understand it better when they're a little safer.

Strange is certainly not that reckless. Besides, he's not going to put the carnival in danger. Any dealings with the Winter Court that the carnival doesn't deal with, it will just be him doing it on his own, after he's left.

Yuya's statement takes him a little by surprise. Strange honestly looks a bit shocked, like he didn't expect Yuya to actually say something like this, before his expression settles into a smile. "You've got to promise not to put yourself in any risk," Strange quickly lectures. "You aren't going to get hurt on my account. But...yes, I think I'd like that."

Yuya smiles back brightly, pleased that his suggestion is being taken well.

"I promise not to do anything dangerous or risky." Yuya puts a hand to his chest with the declaration. He's wary enough about the artifacts and concerned about continuing to fit in properly in his own world that he doesn't want to end up with any other weird, probably permanent alterations. And they have so many world-hopping friends, now, he has no doubt he'll be able to get all that information to Strange back home. Maybe he can even make a personal visit.

"Good," Strange says, with a little nod. His smile shifts a little as he gently starts teasing. "And you shouldn't do anything that Gongenzaka or the Ringmaster think dangerous or risky either. You're a good pupil and I adore our conversations, but I wouldn't put it past you to try and befriend a Winter Fae and get yourself into trouble that way."

Says the person who would also chat up a Winter Fae and get himself into trouble. Do as he says, not as he does.

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time to play fast and loose with thread timelines.

That's how we do it

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