lostcarnival | [OPEN]

Who: Rita, Francis, and you!
When: During the day or so the Ringmaster allows for everyone to consider their choice.
Where: The carnival, or what's left of it.
What: Rita reunites with her cat, returns to what remains of her temporary home in the carnival, maybe gets sappy over her boyfriend, maybe gets talking about the decisions they all have in front of them.

At long last, they made it back. The carnival doesn't look anything like Rita remembers it, but there's a vague sense of familiarity in the air. Once their immediate business is concluded and the Ringmaster has left them all with time to deliberate their future as mortals (or not), Rita takes the time to wander out into the empty, grassy space of what used to be the trailer park. It doesn't take long for Francis to find her, and together with her cat, she locates the space that seems to vaguely coincide with the home she shared with 9S.

Littered on the ground in several haphazard piles are books, papers, clothes, electronic devices, and all sorts of knickknacks collected from various worlds. Rita sits on the grass next to one of these such piles, pulling out an item one at a time, examining it, and setting it aside. A magic textbook here, a tacky t-shirt there... Everything, with some kind of story behind it.

"Nyaa?" Francis seems to ask her, tilting his head.

Rita shakes her head, as if comprehending and responding to his question. "No... he isn't here. But we'll all be back together soon. I promise."

Despite the wide open space, she's so engrossed in what she's doing that she may not notice someone approach while she attempts to sincerely reassure her cat.

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Rita looks up in surprise at the sound of Ignatius's voice. She takes a moment to study him before looking back to her sorting. Francis, curious, hops up on top of a stack of books to get a better look at the towering stranger.

"More or less," she replies. "The whole reason I came to the carnival in the first place was to learn more about magic. With the power granted by the Miracles, I could achieve more than I ever dreamed of... and considering how much I've already been changed, there isn't much of a downside to accepting."

There's a pause after that, as she seems to weigh something in her head.

"Say... if I go through with this ascension thing, will we still be..." She stops, seems to reconsider her wording, and tries again. "...Will I still be a faeblood, technically speaking?"

His shoulders slacken a little, like her immediate answer gives him some sense of relief. Well, that's one thing he doesn't have to wonder about, apparently. As a born fae, he can't imagine many reasons to turn it down, either. At least Rita isn't a sociopath, like many of his peers.

He crosses his arms at her question, uncertain.

"I'm not sure," he starts, because he isn't. "But if it's anything like what happened to me... then my bonds of kinship remain, despite what happened. It's possible you will remain connected to the Summer Court."

And him. He's not sure if that is bad or good in her book.

"Bonds of kinship, huh..." Rita echoes in a murmur, then lets out a short breath, like a voiceless laugh. "That's a first for me. My parents both died when I was little. I don't even remember what they looked like. So I don't know anything about family, or kinship..."

She leans back with one hand flat against the grass, and the other over her heart.

"It's funny... not that long ago, I would've hated the idea of being bound to you, or that stupid Court. But now... if I lost this connection, I guess I'd feel... disappointed? Something like that." It would feel a lot like loss, in a weird way.

He tilts a little, taking that in. He'd kind of assumed that Rita's parental situation was a Portland thing only. He still has a number of 'parents' but he also knows what it's like to lose one.

He comes closer with a bit of hesitation, and then sits on the grass near her.

"Fortunately, kinship isn't something you have to know. You only have to feel it," he says, tentatively. "And if that's how you'd feel about losing it... I suppose you already do."

Rita stares for a moment, heat rising to her cheeks. She already does?

"Then..."

The pragmatic side of her wants to scoff and dismiss it, but in her heart, there's a part of Rita that feels... overjoyed, for a word. She glances away, momentarily flustered, as she processes that. It's not just her imagination. This really is what having a family feels like...

So where do they go from here? It takes a few seconds for her to find her voice again. "...I want to ask... what are you going to do when all of this is over?"

She's not the first person who has broached this subject, and he seems a bit uncertain himself when she mentions it. He certainly has some idea, but the way forward is blurry at best.

"That will partly depend on the Ringmaster," he says, crossing his arms. "There are some possibilities that I doubt I would have the traction for on my own. But I want to keep pushing forward with the Courts, by one means or another. To make sure all of this isn't just a hopeful flash in the pan."

At least with most of the carnival becoming immortals, it will be harder for this to just disappear with time. He wants to make sure these concerns remain a priority.

"On the subject of kinship... I'm not sure how many of mine will wish to follow where I go. I've managed to confirm that the Altar and the Halo are still alive after the battle, but there's no way of knowing when they will deign to speak to me again."

It sounds like Ignatius doesn't have any illusions of going back to his old life. But really, how could he? Too much has changed, and not just for him, but maybe even for the Courts as a whole...

"The... Altar and Halo?" Rita repeats, face slightly scrunched at the unfamiliar names. "Wait, are they... more of your progenitors?" She seems to recall the Iron Forged saying something about three out of five before. Could the two who might not 'deign to speak' to Ignatius be the remaining ones?

"Yes," he says, wearily. "They are the ones you haven't met. Apparently, they went straight to the battlefield instead of waiting to talk. They were never the most patient individuals."

"The Iron Forged and Incandescent can be very personable though, and I'm sure they'd be interested in... well... meeting you more officially, in the future, and hearing more about what's happened. The others are more difficult."

"W-well, I..." Rita leans back, surprised... but soon, some warmth works its way into her expression. They did say they wanted to talk to her, and there's no reason to think they were being insincere. "I guess I wouldn't mind... I mean... I'd like that." She can't help smiling, for some reason.

There's one person who seems to have been conspicuously left out by Ignatius, however...

"What about the Engine Heart?" she asks after a moment.

He snorts, smiling a little.

"I'm sure she is also interested in meeting you, but I wouldn't exactly call her personable. She'll probably want to gawk at your heart more than anything else." He gestures vaguely. "She's not the best at reading the room, but she does the right thing when it counts. Usually."

"I see..." There's a hint of humor in Rita's expression at that. Despite Ignatius's complaints about her personality, she gets the feeling that she and the Engine Heart might have a few things in common.

"I have some important things I need to take care of as soon as I leave the carnival, but after that, maybe I can pay a visit..." The idea of casually returning to the Summer Court seems inconceivable, in a sense, but with the way things have been going... maybe it won't be long before fae and mortals (and ex-mortals?) can start to trust one another.

"...Or, you know... if you're ever feeling sick of Court life, or whatever else you'll be up to... you can come visit my world sometime."

[OPEN]

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