The Crimson Carnival: Chapter VII, Creeping Through The Carnival

--- Gregory Fischer —

The eldritch script creeping and crawling across the page, did little to deter his ability to read the contents of the page. Largely because this was a spell he was more than familiar with.

(“Title: Smoke Screen

Cost: 1 Fantasy Page

Category: (Smoke) Spell

Synopsis: Arguably the most basic spell of the School of Smoke, this does not change the fact that its utility makes it valuable to all who wield cinder and smoke as their weapons, be it as sword or shield.

-Apply Concealed to Adjacent Allies and Blinded to Adjacent Enemies.

-Generate 1 Stack of Smoke on the Field.”)

The book wasn’t lying when it called this the most basic of his smoke spells. Nor was it lying about the fact that it was one of his most frequently cast spells either given how it could offer him both a quick retreat and ambush. (And that’s before we get to spell chaining.)

“Ooh! That’s your grimoire isn’t it?!” Melanie squealed, looking more than a little excited as she tried to read over his shoulder before wincing away. “Ouchies!”

“Are you alright?” Louis asked, the teen’s eyes warily glancing between Melanie and Fischer.

“Yeah, just a… really bad headache.” Melanie grimaced.

“The book does that. Still does it to me if I try to read too much too fast.” He admitted as he snapped the book shut before holding his hand up and generating a small cloud of smoke. Not enough to do anything, but more than enough to test just how much of his magic had returned.

The answer? (Not much… I can generate the smoke but I can’t shape it, or hold much power in it.)

“What exactly happened?” Louis frowned, stepping between Melanie and Fischer.

He pulled out a cigarette before lighting it for a different test as he answered that, “Got a slight work around for my magic…” He breathed out his smoke, finding that with his ‘Special Smokes’ he was able to create more smoke even if he still wasn’t able to hold anything to it. (Feel like a fucking first year cadet…)

“Not that. What happened with Melanie?” Louis glared.

“Like I said, she read the book that doesn’t like to be read.” He told the kid, because he’d rather not go into all of the details about the whole thing when he himself was still figuring it out.

Unfortunately, this still wasn’t an answer that Louis liked, as demonstrated by his follow up of, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“No… I think I get it.” Melanie cut in, still looking like her head hurt even if less so. “It’s like… knowledge forbidden to humans? Or something like that? That’s how you can do magic?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s forbidden to humans.” He disagreed, having used magic for decades before this book screwed it up for him. “More like you started with a flame hot enough to burn ya, rather than some simple cinders.”

“Like she tried to take on an optional boss before leveling up?” Louis guessed.

“Something like that.” (If the kid gets it he gets it.)

“Alright, so… how do I level up?” Melanie asked, looking at Gregory as if he had any idea what she was talking about.

“That… depends on what you’re asking for.” He hedged, huffing on his cigarette.

“I’m asking, how can I learn magic?” The teenager explained.

“Uh, Mel, I’m not sure if that’s a good idea…” Louis grimaced.

“With all the stuff going on out there, learning magic could be a lot of help!” Melanie argued with a vague gesture towards the outside.

“It could be if you were one of the lucky bastards born with the Anima Mutation.” He nodded, before clarifying that, “But the way I had to learn it isn’t such a quick fix.”

“And how did you have to learn it?” Melanie pressed.

“First you need a foci of some kind, something that can hold magic in it.” (Or drugs that let your blood hold the magic for you.)

But knowing what his special smokes did to a person he wasn’t going to offer those to a kid who didn’t know better. (I’m not like those asshole recruiters, getting a kid high on power before shipping them off…)

“Okay, and where can I find a foci?” Melanie prodded when she saw he wasn’t going to continue on his own.

“Most of the time you have to make them, meaning you’d have to find a magical plant or creature and rip a piece of it off. Or luck out and find one pre-made years ago.” He explained for the wannabe Practitioner. “Both of those are going to have conditions based on what they’re made from as to what they’re good at. Fewer if you make it yourself since that gives the thing a sort of conceptual synchronization.”

He was a bit unsure about how all of that worked given how he’d been using his smokes for nearly ten times as long as he’d used a foci, and even then he hadn’t actually taken the elective on building your own more focused on learning more than the singular affinity the base training taught recruits.

“I don’t suppose that’s something I can find just floating around this place?” Melanie asked, sounding like she was pretty sure she already knew the answer and didn’t like it.

He shrugged, putting the butt of his cigarette out against the sole of his boot. “If you do, it’d probably try to eat you.”

Louis gave his friend a cautious look. “Mel…”

“Don’t worry I might want magic, but… I’m not stupid enough to throw my life away for it. Especially not after…” Melanie trailed off, causing a melancholic silence to fall over the teenage pair.

While they were quiet, Ferris decided that this was a good time to tug on his leg and ask, “Where are we going now?”

He thought about it for a moment, his eyes drifting towards the teenagers as he immediately dismissed his preference for the haunted house. (Even if I’ve got a fire advantage, it’s not right to drag them back to where they probably watched someone die.)

With that in mind he also briefly considered simply testing Louis’s idea of making a run for it, before dismissing the idea as a bad go of things due to the spatial magic on this place. (Wouldn’t be surprised if the place had a folding field locking us in one massive loop.)

The crown was immediately shot down due to the sheer amount of blood that monster was leaving behind. (Not even going to try risking that kind of fight with three kids.)

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A similar reasoning had him deciding that between however important the tent with the jester and the hat was, the rose was far safer for him to take the kids to. If only due to the apparent lack of blood in its immediate vicinity.

“We’ll be heading to the theater. Hopefully the lack of… red, means that whoever the rose is is non-hostile.” He explained for both the kid and the teenagers. “I doubt it’ll be that simple, but if we can maybe talk our way out of this then we should go for it.”

“I still think we should make a run for it…” Louis admitted, before letting out a frustrated sigh as the teen rubbed the back of his neck. “But you are the one with experience here…”

Fischer gave the kid a wry grin. “Been doing this for almost a decade now.” (Even if all of this is new territory.)

He figured it was best for everyone’s sanity if he kept that little detail to himself.

Which is why he proceeded to clap and tell everyone, “Gather what you think we need, the sooner we get moving the sooner we can get out of here. I’ll go make sure it’s clear enough out there.”

Something brushed against his leg and he found Mr. Peabody staring up at him.

He gave the dog a curious look before shaking his head and making his way to the front of the building where Mr. Peabody cut him off with a growl.

“What did you catch rabies when you bit that clown?” He glared back at the dog, really hoping he wasn’t going to have to kick his boss’s pet. (Then again they’re both why I’m stuck in this mess in the first place…)

Mr. Peabody seemed to look behind Fischer for a moment before the dog shook its head, and swung its head as it walked off, stopping ever so briefly to see if Gregory was following.

He held his glare on the dog for another moment, before deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to follow after the beast that while maybe not as smart as Briar thought, was at the very least smarter than he was giving it credit for.

Following after, Mr. Peabody eventually led him to a door at the back of the building rather than the front. One with a very clearly labeled exit sign glowing red above it.

“If there’s any clowns this way I’m feeding you to them.” He warned the dog before slowly opening the door and finding himself in a back alley of sorts behind the various attractions.

Stepping out he risked a look around to see if things had calmed down at all since his mad dash into the store. He could still see a few clowns here and there but nowhere near the swarm that had been chasing him through the streets barely half an hour ago. (Fireworks have stopped too, should make it easier to sneak through the alleys.)

Especially since the few cannibal clowns he could see were either still snacking on their victims' remains, or messing with the various attractions almost as if the lot of them were drunk. (Then again, if this is all a festival for them then they might be getting drunk.)

“Is it safe?” Melanie asked him when he got back to their hideout, the teen peeking into the alley as Mr. Peabody stood guard just outside of it.

“About as safe as this place can be.” He whispered as he pulled out the map. “As long as we stay out of sight, and stay quiet we should be able to get to the theater. Since Louis has his little mop spear and I need my hands for my magic, you mind keeping Ferris with you?”

“Sure.” Melanie nodded, offering the lost child a soft smile. “You think you can hold my hand?”

“But I wanna stay with mister…” Ferris pouted, looking more than a little scared.

He crouched down to be eye level with the little one. “I’ll be right here kid, I just need to keep guard and Melanie here is going to make sure you’re safe if I have to fight the monsters again, alright?”

Ferris didn’t answer, still giving him a worried look.

He couldn’t help but sigh, as he pinched the bridge of his nose before trying to be more sympathetic if only because of how young Ferris was. “Look kid, I need you to be brave and stay with Miss Melanie while we do this. I’ll be where you can see me the whole time, I promise.”

Ferris continued to stare at him for another moment before eventually nodding. “Alright.”

“Good.” He smiled, ruffling the kid’s hair as he stood before turning back to the teenagers. “Let’s get moving while we still can.”

“Right.” They both nodded, Melanie taking Ferris’s hand and Louis giving him a nod.

With nothing else to stay they all stepped out into the darkness of the alley, before slowly making their way through the streets. Only stopping to check around corners and make sure none of the clowns were nearby. Inspections that underlined his previous theory that most of these clowns were getting drunk, even if he didn’t see much in the way of alcohol anywhere. (Might try to nab a bottle to burn if I did.)

Even if this aided them in sneaking across the carnival, it did next to nothing to calm their nerves whenever they were forced to wait whenever a clown staggered a little too close to one alley or another. Especially whenever the drunken clowns decided to break or destroy something, their mad laughter echoing after the sound of shattering glass just a short distance away.

Still, through perseverance and patience they were eventually able to find the theater, one of the few buildings on the street that apparently hadn’t lit up when the crimson carnival came to life. (Which if it never turned on, would explain why no one was here for the clowns to go after…)

The fact that the rose was still here, made that especially odd given how he was pretty sure the emblems represented the higher ranking members of this carnival.

While pondering whether or not this was a trap of some kind, he idly noted Louis making his way over, the teen’s eyes occasionally darting towards Melanie and Ferris. “Hey, uh, you mind if I ask you something before we go in there?”

He gave the kid a nod before pulling a cigarette out and telling Melanie. “We’re going to try the doors, can you see if anything of value is in the ticket booth? Doubt there’s a key but, who knows?”

“Sure thing.” Melanie nodded, as they all crossed the street.

“Figured this wasn’t something you wanted her to hear.” He explained, checking the door before anything else and finding it to be unlocked.

“Right, thanks…” Louis sighed, running a hand down his face. “Look… be honest with me, what are our chances of getting out of here?”

“Worst case scenario?” He checked as he lit his cigarette. “We’ve got to find a place to hold up until dawn. These things waited until nightfall exactly for a reason, and I doubt it was just for the fireworks. Odds are they’re nocturnal and when the sun rises we’ll have a lot more wiggle room.”

“Then why didn’t we just hole up in the store?” Louis frowned.

“A number of reasons, such as the broken window and the possibility they might want to collect the dead clown’s body out of the back before they all crash for the day. Whatsmore, take it from someone who’s waited to die before. It's far better to be active and doing something than just sitting there all night.” The last thing any of them needed was one of his ‘episodes’ kicking in while they were waiting for the monsters to come and eat them. (If I lose even a bit of my already flickering flames, one of these kids might die. And I can’t let that happen.)

“That’s… Alright, I don’t like it but… I get it…” Louis admitted, before giving him a look. “You didn’t answer my question though. What are our odds of getting out of this nightmare?”

“As long as I don’t die, you won’t either.” He promised the kid, before pushing the door open just as he saw Melanie stepping out of the booth. “Got it unlocked!”

“Good, because there’s a ton of tickets and junk in there but nothing really useful.” Melanie told them as she and Ferris got closer.

“Well, hopefully something here will prove useful.” He nodded, before leading the way inside.

The interior was just as old time-y as the exterior, the entire entrance being a grand room that was nothing like what he’d see around the city streets. The main difference though was that while the exterior was a little run down compared to the rest of the attractions he’d seen, the inside was even worse.

Illuminated by a flame conjured in hand, litter and debris lined the floor as if the place hadn’t been cleaned in ages, and the walls were lined in faded and shredded posters depicting various performances. Each of which was covered in clear claw marks, and surrounded by broken bulbs. Despite this though, he could still tell they were advertising what he could just barely make out as, ‘The Court’s Finest Rose!’ or ‘His Majesty’s Favorite Rose!’ and other such titles.

“Are we sure this place is safe?” Louis asked as they slowly creeped through the building.

“Probably not, but it is the only place with no blood on the map.” He reminded the teen, before pushing open another set of doors and finding himself in a large open auditorium.

Many of the seats were fractured and broken, giving the place an even more haunting look as moonlight shined down through the open roof. One that had so much wear and tear that he couldn’t tell whether or not it was intentionally so, or just the result of disrepair.

“Okay, how is this place even creepier than the cannibal clowns?” Louis whispered as they all stepped inside.

“No, telling.” He admitted, letting his flames fade as he caught sight of someone on stage. A reddish blonde person that he could just vaguely make out as a woman in an old suit stumbled across the stage with a bottle in her hand.

The woman brought the bottle to her lips, only to pull it back and glare at the apparently empty bottle. With a growl the woman threw the bottle across the stage, where it shattered. The broken glass falling upon even more of its kind that just barely glittered in the moonlight.

Uncaring of this mess the woman stumbled towards a box in the center of the stage before pulling out another bottle.

As the woman held the bottle up in front of her, she glanced over her shoulder, blood red eyes flashing in the darkness. “What dost thou want humans?”