70. [DREAM/DREAM/DREAM/DREAM]
[So while the rest of Johto alternately panics, cries, or rushes around trying to capture as many of the soulstealing insects as possible, there are dozens of souls floating around in that dream limbo, drifting in and out of each other's slumbering thoughts and visions. Whether it's nightmarish flashbacks or just those dreams where you're at school
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[Ahead of her? A cheerily-lit building that nonetheless doesn't have a single soul inside it. The carnivalesque, decorative sign above the front window reads MAGIC in big, fancy letter-- and below that, ICE CREAM HOUSE. But despite the fact that it-- as well as several similar buildings around it, and what appear to be small kiddie rides off to the side-- are lit, the place appears completely abandoned. There's trash everywhere and no matter how cheery some of the lights are, the signs of wear, tear, and lots of weathering scar everything in sight.]
[There's an abandoned popcorn cart a short distance away-- and next to it, something large, brightly-colored, and vaguely human-shaped lying on the ground.]
[WELCOME TO THE LAKESIDE AMUSEMENT PARK!]
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... There's no one here. And as Rise realizes this, the discomfort grows... even as she steps towards that bright thing on the ground. ]
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[Drawing closer to that prone figure will reveal that it's... a costume. One of those big mascot costumes so often seen at sports events and theme-parks. It's a big pink rabbit, dressed in comical blue overalls and a little red handkerchief. The face might have been cute once (... well, unless you were the sort of person who was freaked out by mascots, in which case there was probably no saving it), but the big red stain around the mouth turns the cartoony smile from 'cute' to 'disturbing' pretty thoroughly.]
[This is Robbie the Rabbit, Rise. He'd be happy to meet you if whoever was still inside him, judging from the sulfurous stench rising from the costume, wasn't probably dead.]
[Of course, the suited body isn't the only thing that reeks... the popcorn, too, smells like there's something wrong with it... not just stale, but tainted somehow. Like everything else in this place.]
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[... But then, there's a distant, echoing clank-- followed by a sort of cheerful, tinkling music. It sounds like a ride's started up somewhere. Someone must be operating it, right?]
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[ O-ONWARDS. ]
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[Although it's distant, it's loud enough that the direction it's coming from is easy enough to tell. Of course, that doesn't mean the path there is particularly pleasant...]
[The fairgrounds as a whole seem to be in an advanced rate of decay, the lot of them... the grating she's walking across crackles with rust, and everything from the buildings to the garbage to the cute little teacup ride look like they've been sitting around, gathering dust and losing their color for a very, very long time.]
[The costume she stumbled across isn't the only one there, either-- more of them seem to be lying around all over the place. On benches, half-way under carts, sitting in the rides... there's even one positioned on the roof of a gift shop, head lolling slightly off the edge. If they all had bottles in their hands, it would look like some deliberately-absurd arrangement put together by a bunch of mischievous college kids. But given the decor of the rest of the place... it's not really that funny.]
[Some of the buildings are lit and some aren't, though the dry buzz of the lights suggests that they're automatic somehow, and haven't been maintained for a long time... still, as she passes by some of the open doorways to restrooms and the like, the light at least offers a view of some of what's on the inside...]
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Still, there isn't much she can do but carry on, no matter how reluctantly she may be doing so. There has to be a reason why she's here. ]
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[And there's more, as she keeps walking... the same photo, pasted all over the place... on fences, on walls... even, half-comically, over the face of a ridable caterpillar on a track in one of the mini-rides... other, similar photos soon join it. Photos of ears, of slender hands and feet... probably the same woman who the mouth belongs to...]
[But they're just photos, right? Just photos. Probably some artsy photo-shoot or something. Rise's certainly seen enough of those in her time, right?]
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[ oh god why is she feeling sick? ]
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[The carousel doesn't look to have started, yet... but the music is running, and a deep, mechanical hum from the little engine-house nearby suggests that it's waiting to start. ... Maybe waiting for somebody to get on it?]
[Although suffering from the same decay that everything else in this place is, the carousel is still fairly grand, and lavishly decorated... it must have been beautiful, back in its heyday... but there's still something off about it.]
[... The horse, for one thing... Though they're decked out in the usual colorful, gaudy carousel-horse tack, there's something strange about them... something that just isn't right. ... Part of it could be the fact that instead of poles coming through their backs for the riders to hang onto, they seem to be suspended by giant hooks...]
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Biting her lip, she reaches out to steady herself on one of the ostentatious horses and pulls herself up and onto the carousel. ]
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[The carousel horse she put her hand on did not, as most would, have a texture of cool, smooth ceramic. Instead... its hide is soft, and warm... and, like horseflesh often does to repel flies and other irritating touches, it twitches under Rise's palm... which will come away sticky and stained a dull, ruddy red should she pull it away.]
[Accompanying the movement is a weak, muffled squeal from deep within the stationary beast's shackled throat.]
[It's still alive.]
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Oh my god oh my god, I-- [ the sick feeling returns, but her eyes are also stinging now, and she swallows hard, trembling against her will as she reaches out to gently, apologetically touch the muzzle instead. ] I'm s-so sorry...
[ where is she? Who on earth was cruel enough to make a carousel of live horses? And what on earth is she supposed to do? ]
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