scientificist | IC Contact

[Rolling his shoulders and stretching his wings out, he pulls the sheet of the cot up a bit. He's in his underwear because he figured he could change the dressings more easily that way overnight and didn't expect further visitors before waking up and he absolutely doesn't want to inadvertently flash a seven year old girl.]

Oh. Well, the sword did work. Iiii. ... Appreciate the apology?

[He sounds a little confused. He doesn't generally talk with kids. He doesn't ever talk with kids outside of just here, in the Carnival. And Reira is a particularly small, earnest one.]

[Not flashing small children, however clueless, is an appreciated consideration. As it is, Reira shakes her head- though, when he says the apology is appreciated, she at least looks a little relieved despite persisting guilt and upset.] Mnh...

But I kept saying that it would have worked better if you acted like in the books... ....If it was a book, maybe that would have been true, but...

...It wasn't. And... ....I think even if it was, I shouldn't have said it was your fault.

...You still made a really strong sword, and tried instead if running away, so...

[She's pretty sure most would cut their losses, see. So...You're brave in her books now! Yay!]

[Herbert's reaction is an increased amount of frowning and slightly wild staring. In this case, it's lucky that Reira has empathy powers, because she'll be able to tell he's not angry in the least, just very bewildered and lost. This never happens to him and he validly doesn't have a set reaction to it.]

Well. Yes. [He struggles to think of something else to say for a moment.] Perhaps you have alternate stories you can think of if we spend any longer in the library? Ones without sword fighting?

[It is admittedly a feeling not so unfamiliar to Reira. It feels a bit like how she always feels when topics such as feelings, or school, or changes of clothes and such have come up- where things were so obvious to one that she was simply left baffled, because it had never been something to come to mind to her before, as things she'd never been able to experience in the first place. It is not the SAME feeling if course...

But it's similar enough that she feels it best not to push about the apology. What's important is there-she said sorry, and he apppreciates it, though she shows visible confusion when he asks about other books. After all-] Eh...?

...But...I thought the faeries were too strong for the book magic. ...wasn't that why the sword didn't stop them?

....I guess there's stories without swords... [Her tone implies that she simply hadn't thought of one that...'fit', back then.]

I can't say--I didn't use the sword on the fae woman at all. I assumed she'd already destroyed Lapis. None of the others showed up in...a book scene, not that I saw after that--possibly if they had I could have created something.

[He rubs tiredly at his eyes with the side of his hand, slightly pushing his glasses up and leaving them askew before he straightens them.]

As far as I'm aware, the scenes show up at random. Possibly someone could draw the fae into them. Unless we've already left...?

[Immediately, she shakes her head.] We probably can't leave until we save everyone, [she explains.] ...But, the Ringmaster made the Carnival it's own place again. You have to go to a portal to get out into the Athenaeum.

[The word sounds utterly ridiculous with child inflection, but she carries on.] Umm...if she wanted to drown someone...or if she needed water...

Then, maybe the others need things too? Maybe she had to find a story place that had water already, so she could use it?

[Herbert wheezes out something that's half laugh, half grimace.]

Shadows and fire? I'd rather avoid fire for the time being...

[Reira just looks at Herbert a moment, before nodding.] ...Yeah, that makes sense.

[Except, when he says Shadows, the girl finds herself stuck on that word. Thinking about how it had gone dark, how everyone had gotten lost and-]

....How come the shadows could be made by the faeries, but not water?

[Because they Did make the water, Reira.]

Well, the shadows were obviously a magical creation, they spread through the entire library. The pond was...natural. You couldn't see it, of course, but there were water grasses, weeds. Only in one location.

[There seems to be a clear definition to Herbert: one of the things was like. A location. The other things were individual spells created for the occasion.]

...Oh.

[She pauses, but eventually has to question it a bit more.] ...I guess book places and shadows wouldn't be the same as field spells...

[Fact: both of those things would be possible 'appearances' from such things, in her world. The point to it being she finds it easy to lump the two together.]

Was the 'Elysium' place something different too, then? [It wasn't as though she could see it after all.]

I've...been informed the crows are something the fae operating it commonly uses. It was a shadowy library room surrounded by crows.

[He goes back to frowning again, looking vaguely down.]

He did have a chair. Possibly it was a Scene after all--it's too late to test now, or do anything about it but...yeeees, that is a sign I will have to look out for--I was preoccupied, of course, I couldn't have been expected to notice at the time.

Crows? [Noted. So she nods.]

...There probably won't be a lot of time to test a book scene, if one appears, but... ...even without a scene, book things could still appear.

I saw little things come out, sometimes. ...So maybe, if something bad happens, we can still use book magic to get away at least...

Are the smaller things tangible? [It's not even occurring to him that he's keeping a little kid up past her bedtime. She has him considering things now.] Are they real enough to affect a faery?

Yeah, everything from the books is 'real' here, [She notes. And hey, who cares about bedtimes when it's 'war time', really.]

I don't know if it would affect faeries but... [She tilts her head.] ...even if you couldn't hit the faerie, you could still do something to confuse them, right? Like making a big flash bang, or a dust cloud....

Yeeees, that could well work--we may be onto something, Reira. I'll have to inform whoever decides to go after the, kidnapped individuals.

[Well. That's just the burst of pride Reira needed to feel IMPORTANT. She beams quite widely, nodding.] Mnh- Yeah..!

[A pause.] ...I definitely can't go though.

...people keep trying to tell me to ask if I can leave the Carnival, they wouldn't want me to go and help fight...

[Which on the one hand, she feels like she could totally help in this place. But on the other, Fine, Fair, SHE SUPPOSES-]

IC Contact - Lost Carnival

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