☆TRACK XII: LOVE AND TRUST

[interdimanagers]

Who: Everyone!
What: The tour hits Europa, and Edward Blanche plans a trap.
When: May 25th - June 17th, 2055
Where: Any of the potential tour stops, but mostly MOSCOW.
Warnings: Probably violence.

“Oh, will you break my fall When I climb too high? I always lose my nerve, It happens every time.” ☆LOVE AND TRUST After the disaster that was the beginning of the World Tour, things from there have proceeded innocently enough in comparison. Virgo ended up being able to pull its act into some semblance of order before the festival finished, and so the magic on their side was not entirely lost. Things are tense, however, for anybody who has an idea of the stuff going on upstairs. Whatever is going on, Pride is in the lead by a landslide, and the desperation is present in the managers and the execs alike. Lesedi, however, couldn’t be happier. In fact, she is getting cockier by the day. Her plans with Lapis went wonderfully, and wherever the gem is now is irrelevant. Barring any major disasters, she is increasingly certain of her defeat of Virgo, and is encouraging her elite members of take potshots at them any chance they get. (This includes her beginner music mages.) The beginning of the month is spent with both labels visiting a lot of very familiar locations across Americana - most of which are places they will have visited in the past. The routes are very similar to the ones the first bands took during their opening tours last summer. As for the rescuers, now is the time to regroup. It’s not practical to follow the musicians to ever stop they make, but Shep has apparently enabled his spaceship with a cloaking device, and will be taking all the rescuers and free musicians to the major tour centers of each continental tour - the headline festivals, each lasting for days, and each carrying an important role in the ongoing ritual. That’s what Silver thinks, at least. As some of the rescuers may now know, Gold has apparently gone solo. ☆EUROPA TOUR As the Americana portion of the tour comes to a close around the 25th of May, both labels will be finishing up in Britain and heading on into the conglomerate of Europa. All of these cities are basically what they are like IRL except about 50 years more future-like, and you have full creative liberty to make up some developments to the local culture and worldbuild because this is the last time these places will ever be mentioned meaningfully! THE OFFICIAL STOPS: Paris (May 30th - 31st), Berlin (June 1st - 2nd), Madrid (June 3rd - 6th), Istanbul (June 7th - 8th), Rome (June 9th - 10th), Vienna (June 11th - 12th) THE HEADLINER: Moscow (June 12th - 17th) The festival in Moscow is much like the festival in Vista City - a musical blowout to end all blow outs. The two labels festival grounds are practically blending together at this point, almost as if fighting for physical territory along with fighting for the attention of the crowds. The thick energy of magic follows the tour like a comet’s tail. ► RESCUER PROMPT: Instead of cutting through all of the earlier stops, Shep loads all the rescuers up into the now-cloaked spaceship and will bring them to Moscow, the last step in the Europa tour path and the place they’ll be stopping the longest. Silver has been saying that the lot of them should start working on freeing captives at all costs, especially now that the labels are on the road and increasingly disorganized. Shep has gotten together a bunch of new material for disguises as well as more holo projectors - a lot of them have been spotted at this point, but if they can get close to the musicians and catch the labels off guard it could be their best hope of bunging up the rituals for both of them. Meanwhile, Gold is obviously absent from the team, and some may have seen their former leader essentially announce their intent to leave during their fight with Lapis. Silver and Shep seem to have been avoiding talking about it, but occasionally it will be referenced in public places and the conversation will turn rapidly tense. ► MUSICIAN PROMPT: Everything is more or less business as normal, except for the pressure of the tour seems to be causing all the authority figures to lose their minds, especially in Virgo. Beyond that, though, it’s all deceptively the same. Both labels stop in the various cities and put on their best show, only stopping briefly to enjoy the local culture. Everyone is under very careful watch, however, no matter where they are. No one leaves the performance areas without an escort - it’s clear that both labels are desperate to hang on to musicians at this point. The gravity of the situation is increasingly obvious. Both labels have been booked into the same hotel this time, which is essentially a castle in Moscow. It’s every bit as lavish as you would expect, and it’s easy to get distracted from the stress with the luxuries that are offered at every turn. The consistent sense of desperation that Virgo has running through it at the moment is totally absent in Pride - Lesedi seems like she’s in an absolutely fantastic mood. ► FESTIVAL PROMPT: The festivals crowds are bigger than anything you’ve ever seen. Rescuers will easily be lost in a crowd, and musicians will be followed by a detour of body guards that honestly feel needed for reasons besides imprisonment. The stages are colourful and elaborate in set up. The musical event goes on for three full days, and most of everyone’s time will be spent backstage or in their hotels. Rescuers will have to do their best to keep up. ☆BLANCHE MAKES A MOVE In the wake of Virgo falling behind, Edward Blanche has come up with a magical scheme of his own. Using the soul crystal of pure love from Greg Universe and pure duty from Meril, he has been devising a ritual - and with any luck, it take out two birds with one stone. Greg and Meril, having mostly lost their real personalities after having parts of their souls torn out and crystalized, will be set up in a central location in the hotel, after the performances on the last night in Moscow. They’ll be set up to play music, and while that music is playing it will be reaching out to all of the rescuers, whether they can hear it or not. This music is going to trigger the love and duty within their own souls, and direct it to a particular cause - a sudden and desperate need to save their friends, family, or other sympathetic souls from the labels. And the need to do it tonight. This will hit them particularly hard if they are naturally of a love or duty alignment, but it will have an effect regardless. How much it gets them exactly is up to you. Virgo’s musicians will be protected very heavily during the ritual, as Blanche is expecting the attack. His hope is to lure rescuers in and kill or capture them, having the advantage of foresight. He’s also hoping that the rescuers will go after the less protected musicians of Pride and steal them away from Lesedi, who isn’t aware that this is happening. If things go well for Blanche, both the rescuers and Pride will take a major hit, all in one go. Why not let your enemies destroy each other? Player participation in this can go two ways: one is that your character can simply go after any of the musicians you choose, and you can work out between the players and the mod how well it goes. Alternatively, you can have your character go to the heart of the matter and try to take on Greg and Meril. The tricky part? Blanche is going to be overseeing the ritual as well. However, without the focuses of Greg and Meril’s soul crystals, the ritual will fail. Also, there will absolutely be a few opportunistic ghosts looking for the opportunity to give everyone a hand. Communication with the mod is key for this event! Please run by plans to have any musicians successfully escape by me before going through with it, and also do let me know if you’d like the ghosts to help out! This can absolutely be combined with other player plots, such as the Pride break out initiative that’s been floating around. The night of the ritual is June 17th, so take some time to plan things out, and then get threading. Let me know if you need help setting any scenes! “Oh will you bring me home When I'm barely alive? It's the state of love and trust, And this is for you, And this is for us.”

Comments

[giglio_madonna]

“And there’s nothing to say you’ll fail this time.” Luce strokes her hand along Ivan’s hair. “We’ve gotten out, haven’t we? So we know it can be done. We have a way to get the things they put in our heads out. With the constant moving of the tour, that means it’ll be easy to throw things into disarray. We can rescue her, Ivan. You don’t have to be alone in doing this.”

[sponsorigami]

"I guess..." he repeats again. Ivan still doesn't have full confidence in the rescuers, some less than others. He picks more at his food, willing himself to take some bites. "It's hard to think like that... but... if I were to trust anyone's ability to help, it would be the band. I can still call you my family... right?"

There was a worry buried deep inside. He doesn't think his brainwashed backstory had complete falsities. He really had been disowned by his biological family. He didn't want to lose another.

[giglio_madonna]

“Of course.” There’s not the slightest hesitation. “You don’t need blood bonds to be Family. It’s something you make and find. Besides, while the memories from before the summer are false, the feelings we’ve experienced together since then aren’t. I care for you, Ivan, and I know the others do too. If you ever need us or our help, all you have to do is ask.”

[sponsorigami]

"I... thank you..." Ivan says quietly. "I'm not sure I'd survive losing my family for a third time..."

He wonders if the heroes he can't fully remember are missing him. Do they notice he's gone? Are they trying to find him like some of the other rescuers are doing for their kidnapped? Or are they unable?

But either way, Ivan knows he would die for his band family... which is probably something Luce would frown upon, but it's still a comforting feeling. In a way. That the feeling is real and when he argued that they were an actual family to Silver, it wasn't something brainwashed.

[giglio_madonna]

Scooting closer, she wraps her arm around him and tugs him in closer for a one-armed hug. This whole past year has truly been a trial, and horrifying in more than one way. As much as she acts as though she’s moved past it, she still remembers what it was like down in the basement…. So she understands being afraid.

But.

“You won’t be without us, Ivan. I promise.”

[sponsorigami]

Ivan relaxes into the hug, now feeling how tense he had held his body the whole time. He has a lot of doubts and fears and frustrations. And yet...

"If I can count on that one constant, then maybe I can weather this a little longer."

That counts for something, doesn't it?

[giglio_madonna]

“That’s the spirit.”

She ruffles his hair fondly, smiling. For all that’s going on, so long as she can be a support to people, then that will have to be enough for now. It only needs to last her until they can do something more.

“You can always come talk to any of us if you need to, you know.”

[sponsorigami]

"And I guess the next thing to do is to eat the meal you brought me." Despite the wording, his tone is light. "Have you eaten yet?"

There is a small suggestion there that she can join him. That would definitely help him to actually stop and eat rather than put it off again because he's focusing on something else instead.

[giglio_madonna]

As if he’d said the request loud and clear instead of just an insinuation, Luce hums before she answers. “Not lately, so I suppose I should go get a little something for myself! We can chat about how Moscow is going to be. Say what you will about being interdimensionally kidnapped, we certainly get to see a lot of places, don’t we?” Getting up, she pats down her dress and pats his head again. “I’ll be back in just a moment. You better have taken a few bites by then!”

[sponsorigami]

Like mother like son? Ivan gives a slight shake of his head. Not chiding but understanding. He can't comment on her neglecting herself when he does the same thing. He's well aware of the hypocrisy.

"I will. I will." And to prove it, he takes a decent sized bite of his sandwich. He'll still be sitting when she returns and making an honest effort to eat his meal. They can eat together until something else takes them away.