PUBLIC CHANNEL [D176, EVENING]

[spaghettimonster]

[It's evening, the Ringmaster reconnected one of the islands to the Carnival so never-kidnapped people can go back and forth, and the Prince still has a lot of captives inside that big stone fortress. Captives without cell phones or radios, so there's almost no way for information to get out. But even though the thick stone, things can happen over there that those outside notice pretty quickly. Especially given reason to think about the person in question.

The radio crackles on, then turns off. A full minute passes before he tries again.]

Does... Wait, I need to be mannerly first.

Hello, everyone! Does anybody know much about, well, sudden onset amnesia? Or, cures for it? I think... I'm getting worse.

Comments

[soft_focus]

T....Taken.

[Reira's hands fumble with the radio, and her voice sounds sickly and weak. She's been coughing on and off on top of everything, but with what happened just now, she certainly cannot go to sleep. No-she's up, as though struck with electricity, and trembling.]

Th....The Prince took it... ....He took his name...!

[She doesn't need t o know a name to know what happened. The sensation of it going away, the knowledge of everything surrounding...She knows.

She can't say, or 'know' the name, but she knows.

The Warden's name is gone, and even 'warden' sounds wrong in her mind.]

[spaghettimonster]

Huh? The Prince...

[The Ringmaster, hinting that fae could do much worse things than Papyrus had any reason to know about.]

What... are you saying? The, the name I can't remember, all of a sudden... You believe the Prince did that?

[soft_focus]

H-He takes them..! The lady 'Beneath', she told us..! [she explains, frantic with her words.]

He takes the 'true names'...and sometimes you can earn it back, but mostly he keeps them-and then no name feels right, and nothing feels right, it just hurts..!

[Well, it doesn't HURT, exactly, but it was extremely uncomfortable.] And he took it..!

[spaghettimonster]

[He has no idea who the Lady Beneath is, or who this is talking now, but that won't stop him from listening.]

Oh my god, he's done this before? And it's hurting them? It's hurting...

[At least they can be returned, somehow.]

[soft_focus]

If you take a name, even a new name doesn't work.

...She said we could call her.... ....something, [she decides to note in the end, forcing herself to some illusion of calm,] But just saying it felt wrong..! And her feelings when someone said the name were bad too-not...Really bad, but it was still the kind of hurt that comes when it's not right...!

He has almost all the servants names..! And if you break a rule, any rule, as a servant, or something else, he puts you in the Beneath, and still keeps your name..!

[chronosynthesis]

[Somehow that just sounds ominous.]

What is it you believe you have forgotten? [Amnesia's a bit strong for being more forgetful, isn't it?]

[spaghettimonster]

According to my brother... I forgot everything about our father. And, and, just now...

[This isn't just forgetfulness.]

I can't remember my brother's name.

[chronosynthesis]

Oh, you mean--?









[The radio clatters to the ground.

In a moment, it scrapes the floor as he gathers it back up.] His name.

[The way Syrlya says that is far too grave to simply be forgetting what to call someone.]

[spaghettimonster]

You can't remember either??

[Okay, that's doubly distressing. He'd hoped to just ask and be reminded and have that fix things, somehow. Like he wants to ask ... his brother, about things.]

[kingsroads]

[ After listening to Papyrus's conversations with Reira and Syrlya, Strange decides to pop in. ]

Names are a tricky thing in magic. You can work a spell around something if you don't know the name, but it's hard to target someone specifically if they haven't a name. For instance, if I tried to cast a spell to find the skeleton, it might take me to you instead of...the other one.

[ You know, the other one. The short one. What's his face. ]

I've experience with this sort of thing. One spell worked, the other had...odd results. [ there's a pause before, ] I can't remember his name either, by the way.

[spaghettimonster]

You can't? I guess, no one can...

[It should feel better, to know it's not something going wrong with him, personally, after everything. Right? But this is worse. And what if they all lose their names? Will they be harder to save?]

Lambert... Joker... Rita... The Man Gogenzaka... [Others are missing, but that's enough to reassure himself in that count. For now.]

W-well! Then there's no reason to get all personally upset about it! [Don't mind him, Strange, Papyrus is just addressing himself. Loudly.] We just have to think of a way, to fix this? Do you know about how to get their names back to them??

[kingsroads]

[ For a moment, Strange thinks "oh God, why me?!" before realizing that right, he keeps positioning himself as the magical expert in the carnival, that's why him. ]

The Prince must return the name once it's taken. The Ringmaster might be able to do something, [ because Strange is firmly on Team RM ] but we wouldn't know unless we have them here, and back in her ownership.

I can still try and look for him, if you wish. But between the Prince's magic and the lack of a name, I doubt the results will be useful.

[spaghettimonster]

[A little knowledge is still more than no knowledge, and Strange has a least a little.]

That's not the right spirit for trying! [You're supposed to believe wholeheartedly that you will succeed at all odds, gosh.]

Would useful results be... A compass that points toward a person?? We already know they're in that big, barricaded rock. The trick is in the getting; getting in, and getting them, and getting out.

[stillwinningthehardway]

[Scout's heard the other threads.]

Oh. That's... that's really bad. I'm sorry, Papyrus.

[spaghettimonster]

I, thank you... But, I'm more sorry to... my, my brother. [He keeps tripping over what to say, it's getting so frustrating.] And all the others, over there, and at risk! So, we need to brainstorm... something even the Ringmaster hasn't thought of, yet!

[stillwinningthehardway]

Yeah.

[Maybe it will help to start the first of that now.]

I still... I still think the idea I had is good. Not the roof part, the original, base one. Please don't say it, I don't think the radio is completely secure.

[spaghettimonster]

The... original idea?

[Papyrus hesitates a minute; besides "stand around keeping guard and announcing when people come over," the most memorable part of the plan was "run around the roof like gravity-defying jackasses." The parts he's involved in are just the most memorable.]

Uh... So, the problem is the radio... Let's meet up! And talk radio-free.

[dorkypantsuit]

This is...


I'm sorry.

[spaghettimonster]

Thank you...

But, uh, never fret! We'll figure out a way to get them back. And all back in one piece! Somehow.

[dorkypantsuit]

[BRB TRYING NOT TO CRY]

Yeah.



We will.

[spaghettimonster]

[Let's be real, they're both going to cry, a lot.]

And when we do... we should have things he loves waiting! From people who care about him. Really re-welcome and reassure him.

[humanhope]

[Morgana honestly has no real idea what's going on, but he does know a bit about amnesia.]

Amnesia usually gets better, not worse.

...I think.

[spaghettimonster]

Despite having it, I don't know enough to know either...

But! I'd rather believe you, and what you're saying.

[humanhope]

It's hard not remembering important things about yourself. But if you keep trying... If you keep trying, you can remember for sure!

[spaghettimonster]

Keep trying... Of course I will! Papyrus is known for his hard work and persistence! [As he speaks, he keeps picking up confidence and enthusiasm.] I'll keep trying forever. And keep doing better!!

[Thanks Morgana, today he needed to hear that from somebody else.]