Bright lights! An abundance of color! A cacophony of laughter and delighted (?) shrieks! Welcome, everyone, to the carnival! Enough of those nonsense protein shakes and that hoity-toity recycling; it's time to let loose, have some fun, and live a little! No judgment will be allowed today, not when everyone’s dressed up in ridiculous costumes and eating those unnecessarily huge turkey legs (it... is turkey, right?). For you see, CERES has invited the Traveling Circus of Tjghsldiwk (they hail from a different planet, but here's a hint: the h is silent) to bring some joy to the colonists. This is a safe place to let your inner wild child out, really. Definitely safe. Promise.
Yet for those who are a little less easily convinced to follow the sounds of laughter and amusement (bless your sensible hearts), they will find themselves grabbed and forcibly dragged by a pair of friendly souls in matching costumes. Everyone should be able to enjoy the festivities, don’t you think? Can’t have them missing out on all this jolly good, innocent fun!
The Public Announcement System crackles with... well, a fit of coughing first. But then a gravelly voice speaks! It seems the ringmaster has an announcement for you all. What joyous news can he bring?  Listen... I know that we’re supposed to keep these idiots entertained for at least another day or two but the machinery’s starting to complain. I think I heard the gates of the petting zoo groan – they’re on their last legs.
... Wait, this isn’t the direct line
Oh.
Ohohoho!! Have a great time, everyone! Everything is perfectly fine!
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PHASE I [ 11 00 ] Come one, come all!! There’s quite a large amount of people here, isn’t there? You’ll find yourself tugged this way and that – up until you get dragged right into a changing booth. The helpful attendant meets you with a worryingly large grin – how is her face not breaking? – before pushing you right through the curtain. Then you’ll be given your choice of one of these lovely garments to change into. Look, one of them has to match your skintone, right? Don’t be picky about it! You also have... 90 seconds to figure out how to wear it before you’re tossed out into the middle of the crowd again. Have a good festival!
If you’re not willing to put on the outfits though, that’s fine. Instead, they’ll top you off with a cape and crown, shoving you out onto a... stage? Your adoring public cheers for you, yells your name, and throws confetti in your honor! Then a jester appears again, announcing your grand title:
The Ugliest in All of Cerealia.
Don't worry, that's just your introduction to the carnival; enjoy the rest of your time here! (They may or may not have given you back your clothing.)
PHASE II [ 1600 ] Do you hear that? Cymbals crashing together, trumpets blaring off-tune, the march of absurdly tired feet – a parade is coming! Best move off to the side before an acrobat quite literally tumbles into you. If you are an unfortunate casualty, they’ll actually just start to fall asleep on you because they’re tired… so very, very tired.
Yet the parade continues to march on without them and you can let yourself be distracted by the impressive jumping around and festive partygoers (who seem to be joining in the parade as they please, in various states of undress). But be wary. Distraction will only make you easier prey for the very hungry caterpillar that’s coming up the street next. Run if you can, but it has so very many legs and it’s coming after you.
For those unable to make it away from the caterpillar, they will find themselves gulped right into its gross, drooling mouth – and about five minutes later, they’ll be released out again onto the streets covered in a pink slime. It looks like you won't be able to free yourself from the stuff, so hopefully you can find a friend to get some help! Or one of the strangers around you? Unfortunately, when a kind soul finally comes by to pull you out of the slime, they’ll find that the outside of the gunk is not only immensely sticky but also slippery. If they're not careful, you'll both end up stuck to the gunk together.
You both better get out of that stuff quick because once someone joins you, the slime starts to move. Quick and gooey, it'll pull you and the hapless soul with you down the street at a much too quick pace. Hopefully you won't slide into too many people as you skid your way through the streets of the Entertainment District like some sort of demented Katamari Ball. This is why you should never trust giant bugs!
PHASE III [ xxxx ] In a smaller booth, toward the outskirts of the carnival, some may find a familiar face manning a quiet little shack on her own. Although those who have been in the colony long enough may have first encountered her as an 8-bit version of herself, Aria the fortune-teller is now back and more than willing to drag unsuspecting people into her hands again. Once you step into her stall, she takes one long look at you before sliding over a fortune cookie and a mask. What do you mean you didn’t ask for a mask? That's too bad, because it's yours now. She won't say anything more than that, giving nothing more than a quiet dismissal with a hand and an enigmatic smile to match.
When you step back outside, you’ll find that you just can’t get rid of the mask. If you toss it into a trash bin, it’ll be right back in your pocket. Throw it at a friend? It’ll be in your hand in the next second. Throw it away enough times and it’ll suddenly plant itself on your face -- which leads to all the alien carnival goers in the nearby vicinity suddenly going still with fear before moving to get as far away from you as quickly as possible. Well... you seem to be able to take it off for now if you still want to enjoy the carnival. It just won't go away, and every time you try to throw it away, it'll attach itself to your face. Might as well just keep it.
But... still, it's strange how none of the aliens running the carnival will look you in the eye now, isn't it?
PHASE IV [ 1200 ] For those who aren’t interested in dealing with the abundance of people, there’s also an assortment of critters gathered around for the petting zoo! They all seem to follow a general theme… kind of. That might be floppy ears and a tail if you... squint. The alien staff is right there and quick to ask you not to worry, they're perfectly harmless -- they don't eat humans! It would be bad for their diet, so feel free to pet them, if you can gather enough courage to do so.
Unfortunately, it seems as though this part of the circus was not put together very well; the rickety fences and cages don't really seem to do much against these giant...creatures. Towards the end of the circus' time here, it looks like those cages will start breaking down more and more, too.
The animals rattle the makeshift fences of the petting zoo, until finally, the fences just... collapse. Oops. The ground shakes as the animals stomp and immediately move to break out of their little ring. Well, would you look at that? You’ve apparently found yourself in the middle of a little stampede -- and those warnings about these animals not eating humans doesn't seem to hold much weight when now they're looking at you -- and they look pretty hungry.
BONUS [ why o'clock ] Left and right, there are voices shouting for your attention. "Hey pretty young miss!" or "Excuse me, you stud!" or "Look at this, jackass!" – that said, aliens think that you all manage to look the same, so who knows if they’re yelling at you in particular – and they’re all daring you to come and try your hand at their carnival game.
It’s run of the mill stuff: shooting games, tests of strength, and knocking down a couple of milk bottles. You might actually be doing well! Or... you might be embarrassing yourself in front of whatever cute person you’re trying to impress! But regardless, in the last allotted ten seconds of your game, no matter what, you’ll find your point score plummeting right into the negatives. Did you get a bullseye? What do you know, that’s now worth -1000 points! You missed? -5000 points.
The stall assistant seems to be having a grand old time, laughing at your pain and when the clock finally runs out, they'll give you a large grin. "Look at that score! Well, you know what that means, don’t you? Now, we win you!" With that, metallic tentacles suddenly sprout from the booth itself, looking to capture you and whoever you’re with. Welcome to the carnival, now you're one of the prizes. And it seems you'll be here for quite some time. That is, of course, unless someone can win you back from these really horribly rigged games.
Looks like you'd better get comfortable hanging motionless from a display, like an oversized stuffed animal. You'll be here for a while.
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There were dragons in your world? What kinds?
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Big ones? What other kinds are there? [ The only one he knows is huge... how else is he supposed to judge this. ]
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Dragons can be categorized by size, certainly. But I'm more curious about the different characteristics. A Japanese dragon and a Chinese dragon are very different, even though they are both Asian. And then you have the European dragons, and the Slavic dragons. Ooh! And the giant serpents from various mythologies...
[tl;dr he likes dragons]
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but the next thing he says is key. ] I'm not really sure what types Camelot had, honestly. Gaius only told me a little about it... more than they were killed in the Great Purge 20 years ago.
[ sweats. England calm down. ]
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no he can't just calm down what did this kid say he was from Camelot]
...
[England opens his mouth, then shuts it. he can't just blurt out what he's thinking. Camelot is... a story. and if this young man is from Camelot, then he's from a work of fiction. or something like that. like with Alice, England can't let him know that he knows the story]
C-Camelot... Is that where you're from?
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It's why he looks a bit uncomfortable now, eyes averting to look back towards the parade. ]
You too? [ He takes a deep breath. There isn't a way to say this without sounding arrogant at this point, so he just blurts out: ] Someone already told me that it became a legend or something. It's a little to take in.
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he rubs the side of his neck sheepishly] Ah, yeah. I imagine it would be. [dammit, what to say that might make him feel better?] It's actually part of a famous story where I come from. [...that probably didn't help]
ah oops that should have been "it's a lot to take in" sorry DSGDG
Rei told me that some other... uh countries? [ what are those tbh ] had even heard about it? It's a bit difficult to believe, I mean at the moment I'm still having to save Arthur half the time and he doesn't even realise how stupid some of the things he does are.
[ Yeah he thinks he probably already put two and two together... already... ]
no worries!
and then there's the mention of Arthur. of course, England is thinking of King Arthur, so he hasn't really figured anything else out yet. but the way this guy talks about Arthur, and rescuing him from trouble, that does raise a few flags] Arthur, huh? That name is part of the legend, yes. Are you two friends?
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Well I wouldn't say that. He's a bit of a prat. [ This is the way to backpedal right.. ]
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but Arthur being a prat... and getting into trouble... he must be younger, not the glorious King from the Camelot tale. either that, or this is a very convoluted version] I'm sorry to hear that... [even though it's humorous] Was he brought to Cerealia with you?
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Thankfully not. [ He says instead, then nudges his head to the parade. ] I'd probably look a lot more like them if he was.
[ By being worked to death, that is. ]
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I wonder what CERES would do if they had an entitled prince [?] running around. He'd probably give them a run for their money.
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He has enough honor to defend the people trapped here, at least. [ There's more to it than that, the way his voice softens at the end probably shows that too. ]
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I'm glad to hear it. [because King Arthur is, like, England's hero, at least one of them. he chose his human name because of him!] Though I do wonder how he's getting by without your help, since you mentioned you're there to get him out of trouble.
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[ Because if that wasn't the case he'd be panicking a hell of a lot more than he is. ]
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And the fact that everything is gone is a lie? [ His voice sure does crack because he isn't sure if he wants to know what this guy will say, but he feels like he needs to know, nonetheless. ]
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[actually? he knows they are. but England can't discuss that. though he does seem to realize that he hasn't made his citizen feel any better. oh well, it's not like England was winning any personality or optimist contests]
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Never entirely because Uther is a dick, but still. ]
I have to believe that bit is true, because if it isn't... [ He takes a breath, shaking his head to try and shake off some of the desperation that was starting to creep into his voice. ]
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Well, for your sake, as well as mine, and everyone else's, I am just going to hope that our worlds are frozen, and that we'll get back to them someday.
[he's never been good at hoping, but] I just warn you to not assume anything. I've already done that a few times here and... well, let's just say that I've been disappointed.
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It wouldn't be the first time it's happened. [ No, really. ] But I've managed to solve things before. I just can't-- The world can't lose him. They don't even realise just how...
[ How much he helps. Has to help because they won't realise how dangerous magic can really be in the wrong hands. ]
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rather than voice his question, England decides to reach out and place his hand on the other's shoulder. he can't help it. he wants to comfort his citizen, but they just met! it'd be weird if he got all... philosophical and deep when they don't have any relationship.
so... just an awkward pat on the shoulder, as England tries to think of some encouraging words]
If we can get back, we will. There are a whole lot of people here working together to find out what's become of their worlds. I think, if we remain united, we'll be able to return home. Somehow.
[......god this is hard. how does America do it?]
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Still, England just looks as awkward as he feels sometimes so he can't judge him for that. ]
We have to. [ There's no "can" to it. ] No matter what. [ Kilgharrah had asked him once what he'd sacrifice to save Arthur and he'd said anything. Everything. The same rang true with this. ]
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Right, no matter what. [maybe... he should. probably introduce himself? should've done that in the beginning. now it seems a little strange, considering who they were just talking about] Well! If we're going to be working together, I should at least give you my name. [smooth transition... not] Actually, it's Arthur. Arthur Kirkland.
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