lordofthering | IC SUGGESTION BOX

[ And it'll be the top of the Gravitron where the crow joins her, doing his best to find a spot he can feasibly stand on when he changes back. Once he does, there's a flicker of shadows and the crow, unsurprisingly, becomes Childermass. It isn't a stretch to say he looks tired in his own right but he kind of always looks tired, so. Tired and grim, therefore just another Tuesday or whatever. ]

Ringmaster. [ That's as close to a 'good morning' as she's getting. ] Is it too much to hope you ended up eating them all?

Edited 2018-05-18 16:02 (UTC)

I got close with Frost. [She is sounding pretty humorless at the moment.]

Otherwise, I think I mostly just wasted their time. Good enough, for now.

[ Too bad. Frost seemed like he deserved a devouring but Childermass won't bother commenting as much. He just nods some, then moves on to get why he's here out of the way. It's a subject he wishes he could ignore, but— ]

Strange is going to come back serving the Summer Court again, isn't he?

[ He's already resigned to the fact. He won't bother trying to sound hopeful that he's wrong. ]

Edited 2018-05-18 16:50 (UTC)

[She doesn't look at him.]

I think it's safe to assume that everyone taken will come back with different loyalties. I've already removed their permissions to enter the carnival... I don't want what happened with Sans to happen again.

[ Yeah, he thought as much. ]

Seeing how it would be inadvisable for me to leave the carnival grounds again to do this myself... [ And here's the real reason he's here. Not to be mad at the Ringmaster for this mess or to be upset over their losses. It's nothing like that, though it's still something he would seek permission for first. ] I would like to ask Mr. Mikk and Zangetsu to kill Strange should it become apparent he means the carnival harm and the nightrunners unable to finish the job themselves.

Edited (yeah he never calls tyki tyki) 2018-05-18 17:04 (UTC)

[She's surprised enough that she turns to look at him.]

...I assume this is because you're aware I am prepared to bring him back, if necessary. At least, I would hope so.

It is. I would not presume to do the same with the rest that were taken, only him.

[ Though the gems are practically immortal and Steven is... Steven. Who even knows what to do with Steven. ]

[She has to consider it for a bit, but...]

...If you have to. It's probably better than waiting for him to hurt anyone else.

[She thinks for a moment later, then adds:]

But if he's anywhere near Ignatius, don't trust that I'll be able to grab him first. With sway over his soul, it's possible that Ignatius could interfere.

[ That gives Childermass pause, being new information to this entire rebirth thing. ]

So any faerie can do that? Take back a soul?

Mostly.

[She crosses her arms, looking off into the distance.]

Some are better at it than others. I doubt Ignatius could easily create a new vessel the same way I can.

It's more accurate to say that if we see a soul we can grab it, the same as we could any other object. My spell is more complicated, in that it doesn't require my immediate presence to activate.

Which means we may very well just be killing him altogether.

[ Or worse, stuck as a trapped soul in god knows what. Frustration finally cracks his voice and he turns, as if meaning to pace, only to realize he's standing up high on top of a stupid ride. Pacing would involve walking right off the edge, so instead, he plants his hands on his hips and scowls off into the pre-dawn light. ]

Damn it... I need to tell Lambert that. He'll be planning on killing Strange as well.

I also doubt Ignatius would let him die. Not when Strange has sworn an oath to him. His resurrection won't get rid of that entirely.

[She helplessly shrugs a shoulder, noticing Childermass's obvious discomfort. She hesitates, and then adds something:]

Ignatius is just a warrior. He is following the orders of the Queen.

I would have hoped... [ Of course. That would be too easy. He turns back, looking at her. ] And what does that matter? His orders aren't like to suddenly change and include 'oh, and return this one idiot'.

I mean to say that he isn't being malicious. None of this is personal, to him.

[Apparently she knows of him, at the very least.]

I'm only saying this because I know before he was in the hands of Nightshade, who was apparently looking for punching bag to vent her frustrations on. Ignatius has a code of honor, and isn't inclined towards deception.

He'll find other ways to abuse him.

[ Code of honor doesn't hold much water for someone like Childermass. Someone can claim that and still find a way to really screw you over, just barely within their moral code, especially if that 'code' doesn't apply to their lessers. So it mostly earns a scoff. ]

The most I know of him is he would be honest if we were to win a fight with him but that isn't happening. [ He turns back towards the carnival again, unable to pace forward, though he can turn yet again and go a few steps the other way, then back again. ] Killing Strange far from him may be the only chance, but that means getting him away in the first place.

[Note to self: don't bother with the attempts at comfort. The Ringmaster frowns and looks away, her arms still crossed securely over her chest.

It takes a little while before she speaks again.]

...Does it change your view of me, knowing what you know now?

[ Childermass is terrible at comfort, giving and accepting. It's hardly the Ringmaster's fault he shrugs it off, dwelling on possible outcomes instead. Her question does put an end to his pacing (what little there is of it, anyway), though, and he looks her way again.

Does it? He frowns, brow furrowing, an expression one might expect to mean 'yes, it does', only— ]

Why would it? What happened to some Queen eons ago only matters now that the Winter Court is using it as an excuse. [ Which brings them to a different, similarly important topic. ] So did you? Did you eat the Winter Queen?

No. [The admission is unavoidably melancholy.] But, I did kill her.

[She settles down onto his haunches, hugging herself as her tail swishes with inner discontent.]

I was under the impression that it was the only way to succeed. That, if we could get her out of the way... my friend would be able to change things for everyone. The Wyld Fae, the Courts... the mortals they rule over...

But once the deed was done, everything changed. All the blame was put on me, and I didn't want to deal with it, so I left.

I see...

[ He could say something regarding 'running away never fixes problems' but he gets the feeling running away from likely execution by insane fae is, in fact, the way to go here. Still. He'll stop pacing, at least, idly folding his hands behind his back instead and thinking...

Her friend? Obviously not Frost. ]

You mean the Winter Maiden wanted to change things.

[ If she's friends with Summer, why not? It makes enough sense. ]

Yes.

[She rests her chin on her folded hands, staring out over the carnival. The home she's made for herself, but not the home she was born in. She hasn't seen that for a very long time.]

We all did. But... it didn't turn out that way. I still don't understand why. Maybe it was my fault this whole time, and I was too stubborn to realize it.

[ And it comes back to whether or not John Childermass is capable of comforting someone. He does not hand out pity to anyone, especially not those who have dug their own grave, but that said, he isn't entirely without some empathy. Lord knows it would make no sense for anyone else to care about him otherwise.

So there is a quiet moment, where he weighs what to do, what not to, how much time this may waste, if it's worthwhile, then he makes the careful, long-striding steps to get from where he is to where she is. Or close to, anyway. There's only so much space to sit on the section she's hunkered down on, which means he'll settle down to sit on the one next to her instead. ]

How do you remember it? What happened then?

[ It isn't comfort, per se, but he's willing to listen. ]

She...

[The Ringmaster has to think about how to explain it. There were so many emotions involved at the time, and it was so long ago.]

Once the Winter Queen was gone, the Maiden was the only one in line for the throne. The Court was helpless but to begin plans for her ascension... Despite her hand in things, she would be Queen. That was everything we'd hoped.

But... she had helped me. She was there when the Queen was slain, and she'd lent me her power to do it. And, some members of the Court... they realized that, too.

As she readied to take the throne, attention turned in her direction. Some of them were angry, but there was no undeniable proof of her involvement. The story started to change. I never lied about what I had done. I believed it to be a necessary part of the cause.

I guess... as Winter saw the vulnerability of her position, she started to deny her involvement in the assassination... going as far as to act as if she'd never wanted me to do it in the first place. I spoke to her only once after that point, trying to ask why. She told me that it was necessary. That's what she always told me, that things were necessary.

Maybe everyone thought it was easier to blame a rogue Wyld Fae than the first in line for the throne. Both Courts wanted me dead and... I felt like she wouldn't help me. So I left. The Summer Maiden couldn't bear it either, so she took her followers as far away from Arcadia as she could, using her power to make a home for them.

I wandered the multiverse until I figured out how I could do the same for myself.

[ None of what the Ringmaster says is all that shocking, to be terribly honest. Before, Childermass demanding proof from the Count had been just to stall longer, for what little good it had done, though his claims hadn't seemed wholly impossible (what with how often she does eat her enemies).

He'll still think about it for a bit, offering a moment of silence after she reveals what did happen. Once that moment passes, however-- ]

Power changes people. [ Very matter-of-fact. He doesn't actually shrug for once but if words could sound like a shrug, there they are. ] Why defend the dregs that helped you get there when it's easier to throw them away?

[ Childermass knows how that is, if to a lesser extent. That never really surprised him, either. ]

I imagine it wouldn't even matter if Winter did confess at this point, would it?

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