Thanks to TehGramerPolise for his help with this chapter


The lights continued to dim until the only light was a spotlight centered on the stage. One moment it stood completely empty, the next, there was a flurry of movement and Ironwood stood upon the stage, lifting a single hand to gesture grandly to the audience. There was a clatter of wood as all of the puppets in the audience applauded and Ironwood bowed, "Thank you. Thank you! You're much too kind."

The eerie applause slowly died away and Ironwood began to pace up and down the stage, "Welcome one and all, to the Main Stage of the Carnival at The End of the World! Here you shall see sights and sounds that will amaze you, astonish you, mayhaps even astound you!"

He stopped his pacing and directed his gaze up towards to roof, "Relax! Enjoy! Here at the Carnival you are safe, bound within the Contract that protects us all!"

I frowned at that line, my thoughts churning as the mad general continued. That didn't feel like that had been directed at us, it felt like he had been addressing the entire audience. Almost as if-

I blinked and then my gaze snapped to the puppets around us, my eyes taking in details that I had glanced over before; I began looking past the bizarre metal joints and the wooden bodies.

While it was difficult under the dimmed lights, I could make out that while the puppets themselves wore no physical clothes. White laboratory coats were painted on most of their bodies, while others had strange, curved designs that looked vaguely familiar.

Finally, I saw what I was looking for on a puppet of a woman maybe in her late thirties: on her chest was a square that had a gray box on top; on top of that was a very crude picture and a line of text: Lavendar Winters, Class B Personnel, Department: Umbrian Studies, Security Clearance: 3.

"Oh." I breathed, "Well then…"

"You noticed it too then?" Winter asked, her voice tight.

"Just now, damn what the hell happened to them?"

"I think we're about to find out." Winter responded..

I jerked my head to look back at the stage to see that a struggling figure was being brought forward by three, large puppets in the painted clothes that I now realized was Altesian body armor.

"This is Yale Smith," Ironwood shouted to the crowd, "He is one of us, but he had lost his way! Hiding in the air ducts like a rat, now, he too shall be saved!"

The man shouted and yelled, but Ironwood simply smiled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of gold, twisted into a strange, curved design. He held it high over head and the air was filled with chattering that I realized with a shiver was the puppets around us cheering.

Ironwood brought it down in one sharp motion, planting it right on Yale's forehead. The man's scream reverberated through the air. His body bent and twisted, his clothes sank into his skin, his joints began distorting, extending. The scream caught, then went silent, the man's head now completely wooden, his bottom flap still open in a silent wail.

Finally, the newly made puppet went limp, crashing to the ground in a heap. The audience applauded again, and the three other puppets grabbed him and dragged him off stage.

"Suddenly really glad you stopped Cerulean when we first encountered Ironwood." Onyx muttered, "And it's a damn good thing he didn't recognize any of us."

"Does that mean that all these puppets around us are…" Jaune gulped and sank into his seat.

"Look on the bright side." Sable piped up, "This means there's still a chance that we can save them."

Winter looked at me and I shrugged, "Depends on how exactly the enchantment works. I give it maybe 70-30 that they're still alive somewhere in those bodies."

Most of the group brightened up a little at that, but Winter and Kali's faces told me that they knew what I wasn't saying. Just because they were alive didn't mean that they would be after we reversed the enchantment, if we even could find a way to do that. Even if that all went well, they would never be the same.

I shook my head and turned my attention back to the stage, where Ironwood appeared to be giving his closing remarks.

"- A modern marvel of engineering!" He proclaimed as a large crate was rolled onto the stage next to him. "A beauty for the eyes, and a treat to the ears. May I present the creation of the brilliant Herr Dresselmeyer, his Amazing Doll!"

He bowed and stepped smartly back out of the spotlight and into the darkness.

The crate shifted slightly and the wood began to shift and twist like clay. When it was done, it had taken the shape of a giant wooden clam; a sweet tinkling began to emanate from within, like a music box. Slowly, ever so slowly, the lid lifted to reveal the figure of a woman. Who stepped forward into the light.

At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary young, black-haired woman with extremely pale skin, wearing a dress the color of gold. However, there was a shine to her skin that belied the fact that it wasn't flesh that covered her, but rather some other material. Her shoulders were overly large and they churned as the large music boxes that comprised them spun round and round, creating a haunting melody that hung in the air.

She twirled gracefully forward and then in a beautiful, enchanting voice, began to sing.

"Along the shore the cloud waves break."

"The twin suns sink behind the lake…"

Oh hell no, beautiful singing by an obviously supernatural entity? Screw that and everything about it.

"Cover your ears people." I commanded, doing so myself.

Everyone followed my lead instantaneously, which meant that we all realized at once that it was a futile gesture.

"Strange is the night where black stars rise,"

The melody and singing continued unabated, echoing from inside my own mind.

"And strange moons circle through the skies…"

I heard Jaune let out a choked cry as a dense fog descended around our box, cutting us off completely from the surrounding audience, but the music still sang:

"But stranger still is, Lost Carcosa."

I was suddenly aware of a massive presence within the fog directly ahead of us, a few moments later, that presence began to take the shape of a giant silhouette. I stood up and unsheathed Harbinger, and around me I could hear everyone else getting ready for a fight.

"Songs that the Hyades shall sing."

"Where flap the tatters of the King…"

All at once, the fog directly ahead of us cleared, revealing nightmarish figure in front of us.

He sat upon a wooden throne that had sharp spires upon its spine, piercing into the fog, its arms warped and with sharp thorns spread along their lengths. The figure itself was dressed in tattered, yellow rags; its face covered by a smooth mask that I was dimly aware was made of the same substance as the doll. Whose song continued as the masked figure stirred upon his throne.

"Must die unheard in Dim Carcosa."

He stretched out a gnarled hand and clenched it into a fist; unbelievable waves of force slammed down on me and I let out a snarl as I dropped to my knees. I heard several gasps and thuds as the others were similarly affected. The figure reached towards its mask, lifting it slightly off of its face.

Then there was a sound of a single footstep that sounded like a thunderclap. With an extreme effort of will, I wrenched my head to see Jaune still on his feet, his face set in a determined expression.

The figure jerked in its throne; its eyeless mask focussed on the student Huntsman as he took another step forward, his shield lifted in front of him and his sword held in, his entire form glowing gold.

"Song of my soul, my voice is dead."

"Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed…"

Jaune finally reached the front of the box, standing between us and the dreadful figure on the throne.

For a long time, the figure didn't move, frozen in place. Finally, it stood up from its throne and began walking slowly towards Jaune, an alien purpose in its steps.

"Shall dry and die in Lost Carcosa."

I tried desperately to stand, straining against the invisible force that held me on the ground but it was no use. I was trapped completely as that thing walked closer and closer to Jaune, who stood stalwartly in its path.

"Let the red dawn surmise."

"What we shall do…"

The figure stretched out a hand and Jaune let out a shout as he tried to swing his sword around, but he froze mid-swing, letting out a frustrated cry as the being's power slammed down on him. The figure seemed completely unperturbed as it laid its hand squarely on top of Jaune's head, who let out a gasp and his arms fell limply to his sides. There was the sound of sighing wind and I shuddered as I realized that the figure was whispering rapidly in the old tongue.

I began focussing every bit of my strength on simply trying to lift my weapon, hoping that the figure's hold on me would weaken as its attention was on Jaune; that's when I heard a small sound, and felt something skitter out from my pocket. I felt something crawl along my belly and onto my back and then I felt it bunch itself up and jump.

A blur of purple shot through the air, landing squarely on the figure's hand. I blinked in surprise as I realized it was the stone scarab that Ozpin had given to me in Agartha. It's mandibles opened and then closed upon the figure's skin; black spikes spat out of the scarab's eyes and stabbed downward into flesh like a pair of needles.

The scream that the figure let out shattered the world, everything spun around and around, and I could feel myself falling. The song became staticky and warped, and the fog closed in once more, covering everything.

Then all at once, the fog cleared and we were sitting back in our booth, upon the stage, the doll had fallen still. It slowly leaned forward and then fell onto the stage, and it shattered into pieces, the music boxes letting out a final tinkle as they ground to a halt.

"Well um…" Ironwood's voice boomed throughout the tent, "We apologize for the untimely end of that performance, we shall now be taking our previously scheduled intermission. Thank you for your patience."

Before the mad general's last words had even faded, our group descended upon Jaune, whose eyes were rolled into the back of his head, "Jaune!" I shouted as I grabbed his shoulders and shook him, "Jaune!"

The student Huntsman gave a start and shook his head as though to clear it, "What, what happened?"

"Do you feel funny? Anything at all?" I demanded, "Kali, can you check him for curses?"

Jaune's eyes widened, "Wait, where's the King? He was trying to tell me something."

"Tell you something?" Winter asked cautiously as Kali passed her hands over Jaune, a blue light suffusing them.

Jaune nodded emphatically, "The Story, it's broken, we need to fix it."

"Right, sure." I told him as I glanced at Kali, who gave a meaningful jerk of her head, "Just sit right here with Winter for just a second alright?"

Jaune didn't seem to hear me, his eyes fixed on something in the distance, "The Story…" He murmured as Kali and I walked just outside of the box.

"You find something?" I asked her.

She grimaced, "Kind of... you know that necklace the Baba Yaga gave us? His isn't working anymore."

I think my panic must have shown on my face, because she quickly held up a hand, "But apparently he doesn't need it anymore. There's a seal on the top of his head, it's not quite complete, but it's doing what that necklace did and more."

I lifted my eyebrows, "Neat... so what's the catch?"

Kali suddenly looked incredibly uneasy, "Other than the fact that he's probably gonna be a bit loopy from being given it; especially since it was interrupted part of the way through? Apparently absolutely none."

I let out a long, slow breath, "Right, that's uh… ooof."

Kali nodded, "Yeah…"

Free boons from powerful eldritch beings are a good deal scarier than contractual ones. They meant that the being in question thought they were getting something from you; regardless of what you thought you were doing.

"Thoughts on this 'Story' thing?"

Kali shrugged, "Whatever it is, he'll likely be forgetting all about it soon; one of the pieces that was incomplete was a memory seal."

I let out a grunt, "Huh, I'm not sure whether that's convenient… or horribly foreboding."

Kali grinned, "Short-term the former, long-term, probably the latter. In any case, we should keep an eye on him, but he might just be safer than any of us."

I let out a sigh, "Alright sounds-"

"Thank you very much for waiting," Ironwood called out, I looked over to see several of the puppets armed with wooden brooms clearing off the now empty stage. "The next performance will be beginning shortly. Please return to your seats."

Kali and I began walking back to the box when I felt something shift in my pocket. I frowned and I reached into it, only to recoil as something pinched my finger hard. I grimaced and dived in with my hand, pulling out the purple stone scarab from before.

I stared at it for a moment, and unbidden, that thing's words ran through my mind, 'One of the stars in the play to save the world, but he's lost the script. Now he dances out ab-libs and impromptus on top of cryptic hints that he drops to ask for the lines.'

Whatever it was that Ozpin had given me, it had undoubtedly stopped whatever that thing had been doing to Jaune. My first thought was to immediately give fervent thanks; but there was another part of my mind that thought about those words and doubted.

"Come on, Qrow, you're gonna miss it." Kali called.

I shoved those doubts to the back of my mind, put the scarab back into my pocket, and went back to my seat.