public channel; forward-dated a hair to day 67

[kingsroads]

[ There's a bit of a pause before Strange starts talking, as if he's not entirely certain what he's going to say. He sounds a bit tired, but awake enough to hold a conversation. ]

For those of you who didn't already know, I'm not dead anymore. [ pause. ] Which, I suppose, is obvious as I'm talking to the radio, but the point stands.

I'd like to speak directly to the Ringmaster, Syrlya, and Zangetsu, if possible. As for everybody else, can you please fill me in on what happened from the time I left with Ignatius to now? Don't spare any details, this will be written down for posterity's sake.

[ fun fact: Strange has ABSOLUTELY ZERO CLUE about the various levels of trainwreck that the fae party in the library + rescue missions + torture session were. ]

Finally, odd question, but did anyone bring any flameproof fabric?

Comments

SURPRISE ACTION, it's peridot time

[kingsroads]

[ Strange is laying back in one of the cots. He's gotten a bit of a rest and probably should be good enough to get up and go outside now...he just doesn't really want to just yet. Needless to say, Peridot yelling catches him by surprise. He props himself up on his elbows to look over at Peridot. A hose-down and a few hours napping have done wonders at making Strange look like an actual person, but there's still an air of tiredness about him.

Also, his hair's on fire now. That's a thing. Still, when Peridot calls out, Strange can't help but grin slightly as he looks over at the gem. ]

That was fast! Should I be concerned or impressed that you got here so quickly?

[periphrasing]

[Peridot scampers over before answering, throwing herself up on the empty cot next to his, bouncing on the landing.]

Oof. Impressed, obviously. Since that's basically what I am, at all times. Impressive.

[She's distracted by the fire hair, appraising it with brows held high.]

Wow. That's a hell of a look.

[Absolutely no pun intended.]

[kingsroads]

Want to see something even more impressive?

[ Without waiting for Peridot to answer, Strange starts rolling up his sleeves past the elbow. Once he does so, he activates his third eye. What were vaguely eye shaped burn scars on his forehead, left hand, and right forearm set themselves on fire. It burns without hurting Strange: the magician himself is giving Peridot a grin that implies this is cool shit. ]

This happens when I examine magic now.

[periphrasing]

[She absolutely thinks that this is super cool shit, and splits into a manic looking grin, eyes alight with fascination.]

Woooooaaahhhh...

[She says it appreciatively, leaning forward a little to watch.]

Alright, I'll give you that. You want to hear something even more impressive? [She puffs up a bit, pointing to herself with her thumb.] I cut a high fae's arm off.

[kingsroads]

[ Okay WHAT. Strange's eyes widen and then almost instantly swap to a bit of a worried expression. Oh my God, are they going to add another fae to the list of people pissed off at them? We've already got the Rose Queen out for the carnival, please don't let there be another fae who's seeking revenge for being disarmed (eyyy) ]

What happened?

[periphrasing]

Stars, where do I even start!? You heard about the other kidnappings, right?

[She's being awfully perky about it now but. The prior week during that time when so many people were missing was absolute hell!]

[kingsroads]

Some of them. I met Steven in the Rose Queen's gardens. [ There's a paaaause, before Strange admits, ]

Honestly, it's probably best to assume I don't know anything and explain from there. All the information I do know is in bits and pieces.

[periphrasing]

...Yeesh. Alright. It's...

[She pauses. There really is just SO MUCH.]

A lot... and I mean a lot-- of stuff happened. Lapis got kidnapped by a winter fae, Yuya and Gon and I ran into Nightshade and this other stupid little pixie named Frost... The Count of Crows showed up and tried to murder Childermass as a favor for the Rose Queen, and then JASPER also got taken by the winter court...

[Peridot stops again. She looks weary just trying to recall all of this.]

...It was a really long couple of days.

[kingsroads]

[ Strange can't help but look visibly annoyed as Peridot mentions Frost. Yeah, that little asshole who caused trouble for Strange in Alola, he's not at all happy about the fact that jerk showed up. ]

What was Frost doing here?

[periphrasing]

Helping Winter to track down the carnival, apparently. When I ran into him though he and Nightshade were fighting over some book...

[She's still not sure WHAT book, but.]

I was out in the Athenaeum trying to find Lapis and... I stumbled into the middle of it. And then Nightshade threw him at me, and then HE stabbed me with a bunch of ice, and they both scarpered off after trapping the three of us inside some kind of stupid ICE DOME!

[It was EXTREMELY UNDIGNIFIED and she's really mad about it.]

[kingsroads]

[ A few more things slot themselves into place as Strange listens to Peridot's explanation and what he knows about the Winter Court, Frost, and that giant mess of a summoning Strange did. Fae near enough to the carnival to try and track it + the world's vaguest summoning terms = Strange summoning Frost to the carnival. ]

You know, that's probably why I was able to summon him in the first place, [ he muses. ] It's a damn shame that Frost and Nightshade couldn't have killed each other. That'd make all our lives much easier.

[periphrasing]

Tch. If only...

[Her expression darkens.]

Frost better watch his back... If he hadn't trapped us, I might have made it in time to keep Lapis from getting taken.

[This is absolutely not true but, it's easier to blame the enemy fae than it is to accept that she just couldn't have done anything.]

[kingsroads]

I'm not able to summon him now, but if I ever can summon him again, I'll hold him back while you punch him.

[ It's said in a 100% joking tone: this is just Strange trying to make Peridot feel better. His face lights up like he just realized something amazing, before Strange makes a few terrible jokes. ]

Which of the fae did you do 'arm' to? Was it a hands-off experience?

[periphrasing]

[His attempt is amazingly successful? Peridot does love a good terrible joke. She snickers delightedly, thankful for the distraction.]

I'm not sure if you'd be familiar with her. They call her the Lady of the Lake? She's with the Winter court. Has a domain of death and drowning...

[She says, making a flippant hand gesture. You know. Fun stuff like that!]

Everything turned out alright in the end. We managed to defeat her pretty handily, nyeheheheheheheh!

[kingsroads]

[ And now it's Strange's turn to let out a little giggle at Peridot's stupid pun. ]

I don't know that fae, by the way. The only Lady of the Lake I've heard of is in mythological terms. [ King Arthur, Excalibur, all that jazz. ]

Did the Lady take Lapis or Jasper?

[periphrasing]

Both, actually. [Peridot scowls lightly, recalling the circumstances. She'd much rather be recounting their triumphant battle than the traumatic lead up to it.] She took Lapis first... Jasper was an idiot and charged her directly during what were supposed to be violence-free negotiations. The Count destabilized her and handed her over to the Lady as compensation. [Grumbling] As if he had any right...

[kingsroads]

Jasper is an idiot, [ Strange chimes in. ] She was part of my group that ran into Ignatius. She would have probably gotten herself captured by him if I hadn't offered up myself first.

[ But as for Lapis, this provides a whole new set of questions. Not that Strange gives a shit about Lapis (he doesn't! she's awful!) but there is a new fae and Strange is 500% interested in this new fae. ]

Lazuli must have lucked out getting taken by a fae with a focus on drowning. Can gems even drown in the first place?

[periphrasing]

[Saying that someone 'lucked out' by getting kidnapped by any kind of fae is kind of a weird choice of words, Strange. Peridot doesn't look particularly amused by that.]

Typically, no. I guess if we gave ourselves some lungs and did it on purpose for some sick reason...

[You know. Just so Strange is clear here. Gems don't drown by default, but they could.]

Things like 'logic' and 'gem anatomy' don't matter much when fae magic is involved, though.

[kingsroads]

A valid point, [ Strange admits. Ignatius turned him into ash then made him a dude again, he should probably stop trying to puzzle out 'but how can the rock people drown' ]

Anyway, back to your heroic rescue: you still haven't told me how you chopped her arm off.

[ after all, Strange has zero clue if he should be mad about this or not. Can fae regrow limbs? Maybe? If friggen Gongenzaka can kind of regrow a limb, then the fae should be able to do it too, right? ]

[periphrasing]

Oh! Right. So there I was, in the middle of this big fight.

[There's a lot of talking with her hands that's happening concurrently during this explanation.]

We'd just nabbed Lapis and Jasper back from the Lady using the narrative magic of the Athenaeum. The Lady of the Lake, she was SO mad, right? Because she tried to escape with them, but we got to them first. So she popped up out of the water behind me like PWWSSHHHH and was just like, "RARGHARGH! I'LL TAKE YOU INSTEAD!" And tried to suck me down into the water!

[Pause.]

Oh, there was a lake there, in the library. That's how we got her to appear. I probably should have mentioned that.

[kingsroads]

[ Strange has a new goal: try and get Peridot to recount any other events he missed. Because he is just so charmed by her sound effects and hand gestures that he can't help but smile at the whole thing. She popped up out of the water like PWWSHHHH. That is fuckin adorable. ]

You probably should have mentioned the lake, [ Strange admits. Still, considering that he almost drowned in the Athenaeum, the idea of a magic story bullshit lake makes perfect sense in his mind. ] What happened next?

[periphrasing]

So what exactly happened next I'm a bit hazy on, because I was stuck underwater. But. I think it went like this: Lapis and Jasper rejoined the fight, but this time they were on our side! I'm pretty sure Lapis fought the Lady's control over the water then, because instead of going down to the bottom of the lake, I kind of went up in this sort of column of water? Like this: Pwsssshhhhh.

[She makes a rising motion with a hand held flat, indicating an ascending column of water.]

And then Jasper came in and tried to fight the Lady hand to hand! That part I could see, because it was happening above me, and it didn't seem like it was going super well. Obviously I had to do something to help out because if the Lady got control of Jasper again, that would have undone half the progress of what we'd already accomplished. So. I used my metallokinesis and reached out for this sword I'd been using that I borrowed from one of Lapis's meep-morps. I pulled it toward me, and then I FLUNG IT UPWARDS-- shing! Right through the surface of the water! And it cut one of her arms off.

[kingsroads]

[ On the one hand, that is metal as hell. Using her magic to grab a sword and slice someone's arm off? Hell yeah.

But on the other hand, Strange already knows about the whole 'let's torture Ignatius' problem. This is already sounding like there's different context, mostly because he hasn't heard anybody yelling at Peridot for doing a torture and there's currently only one fae trapped in the carnival...but Strange still wants specifics. ]

Did you hurt her in any other way?

[periphrasing]

[Peridot's kind of thrown that he's asking her something like this, and does not appear to be caught up in being totally amazed at her awesome battle skills.]

Um. I mean we were fighting her, so... Yes? Sans bit her, and I'm sure Jasper punched her or headbutted her at least once.

[kingsroads]

[ Just punching and headbutting? Strange almost instantly looks relieved. ]

That's good, [ he remarks. And then, realizing that Peridot's probably confused as hell right now, Strange decides it's probably best to explain. ]

There's a difference between wounds obtained in battle and what Lambert and the rest did. [ yup, he's heard that story ] I'm certain the Lady's probably mad about the lack of an arm thing, but that's a wound that feasibly happens in war. Plenty of people lost their limbs when I was in the peninsula.

[ It's all said in a matter of fact tone. And since that's done, Strange's expression shifts to a small smile. ] And since I don't think I've said so, it was smart of you to bring that sword.