now let's skip the tears and start on the whole-

[stagemanagers]

[You remember dying. Maybe the memory is clear and bright and your body still aches from the cause. Maybe it was fast enough that you didn't feel it and don't remember what you went through. But no matter how you went out you're still trapped here.

When you open your eyes it might take you a minute to recognize your surroundings. For the executed, it's your dressing room. For the victims, you startle awake in the place your body was discovered. But no matter where you are nothing is where you remember it. It's like everything has been picked up and moved to the other side of the room. The entire room has been perfectly mirrored from what it used to be and, upon leaving, it seems the rest of the opera house is just the same. If you remember one room being in the east wing, it's now in the west. If it was in the west, it's now in the east.


Welcome back to the Opera House, friends. Even in death you're still in the woods.]


WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4 | WEEK 5


[ooc: Welcome to deadland, darlings! It's a perfectly mirrored version of the Opera House and each week, as new people die after new floors have been revealed, the stairwell doors will unlock and allow you to reach them. For example, week 3 victims will unlock floor 2 and so on and so forth. Also, all dead characters will wake up at their actual canon point.

Have fun because we have some fun things planned for you.]

Comments

[mcfife]

[He has never raised zombies on his own, but he has fought many of them.] That doesn't usually happen. Most zombies would have some blood fall out if their cuts were cut open, but the shoulder would be dry.

[A shrug.] Unless they work differently depending on their creation, of course. I have never researched this topic before today.

[isawallflower]

Zombies aren't real where I'm from, so. [ Riley sighs, shoulders slumping a bit. ] I don't know what he is.

[mcfife]

[Is nothing real where she is from.]

This is useless. [He slams the book shut.] How are we supposed to defeat him if we do not know how?

[isawallflower]

[ Just the horrors of high school, untreated mental illness, and parental neglect!!!

The book slams and Riley frowns, holding in a flinch. ] I don't think we're supposed to do anything. Or...that we can do anything. We're dead.

[mcfife]

That has never stopped anyone-

[Not wraiths. Not liches. Not immortal wizards. And certainly not Ser Proletius when the technowizards brought his mind back for one final battle.]

A hero cannot be defeated
Simply by making him die
Prince Angus will rise
A--

[He stops himself short.]

[isawallflower]

[ She raises an eyebrow. ]

A hero, huh? Are you a hero?

[mcfife]

[Defensively:] No, I was talking about someone else. Someone we revived as a hologram to lead the defense against the chaos wizards. [Back when he was a hero.] He was taken by the Knife in the universe I traveled to, so it doesn't matter anymore.

[And then Proletius died a very unimpressive death thanks to Ralathor. A shame he can't work for me anymore.]

But what I mean to say is that death is not the end.

[isawallflower]

[ Riley can't figure him out...but at least he's still babbling out things she...barely understands. ]

I sure wish it was the end. [ She more mutters than than anything, but- ] What...even happened, Angus? Just a week ago, you were talking about...saving the universe. What changed?

[mcfife]

[This topic again. Angus settles down uncomfortably and traces the book title with a finger.]

The Knife of Evil, obviously. It's been quite helpful in showing me where else I can find happiness instead of being upset every time one of you die.

[isawallflower]

That’s what this thing did? [ Riley scoffs. ] Yeah, I stopped being upset when people I knew died too, once, and it was called being a piece of shit of a person.

[ Months and months and no one figured anything out, so—so it had to be a sign, right? She just made a hard choice. Everything would be fine. Riley wants to think of that girl as another person. But it’s still her. The hissing whispers and all. ]

You’re really fine with this? There’s nothing in you that hates it?

[mcfife]

Now? I'm absolutely fine with it.

[For a moment, though, he felt something different. It was awful. He doesn't have to think of Fife anymore now that he's dead, so there was no reason to give into the memories of friends from another world.]

It's not like almost everyone that I thought I cared for isn't here. What's there to be upset about?

[isawallflower]

Ohh, I don't know, maybe the fact that people cared about you, and you betrayed them? Maybe the fact that you took advantage of someone who literally couldn't defend herself? Maybe, just maybe, the fact that you let down a bunch of people who were counting on you, and who really thought you were better than this?

[ Okay. So she's projecting. But you know, it almost feels good to. Riley's got one of her forced smiles but with that tone of voice, with that anger in her eyes, it looks more real. Mean, and cruel, and harsh. ]

But that's so great for you! That you can just turn it all off, like a coward! Isn't that good? Isn't that better?

[mcfife]

I sure did. [He forces a smile. Remember killing Spinel. Remember how happy it made you.] That was the first time I felt any better in this prison, you know, when I killed her. Once I stopped struggling and let the thoughts come through, it was easy!

But I suppose that makes me a coward in your eyes. I used to think it was rather cowardly to murder the innocent, but now that I tried it, it sure beats being miserable.

[isawallflower]

[ How can he not feel anything? Even- even Riley, sleepless nights, apologizing to Chess and Farrah, and Mattie, and Clark— ]

It makes you disgusting. [ She turns away. Is...this what she looked like to her friends? No wonder Cairo hates her. ] You're just as bad as me.

[mcfife]

[Well that stings. Not that he's going to show it and make her feel victorious.]

I'll have to get used to people calling me evil but I should hope that I am worse than you or otherwise this Knife works all wrong. You're just someone who kills from fear and anger, not joy.

[isawallflower]

[ Riley sure isn’t denying that! ]

You’re going to tell me you didn’t kill her for any other reason? Your little hit-list was just for fun?

[mcfife]

To deal with the urge. [He slumps back into his chair.] I had to find something that sparked joy withing my heart, and I finally found it.

[...]

I won't apologize for her death. That would be lying about how I feet.

cw: riley's mental state

[isawallflower]

I don't understand how that could be something anyone could feel happy about.

[ ...But doesn't she? The little whispering voice is back, sending goosebumps down her arms, because she felt accomplished, didn't she? Didn't almost knocking the mannequin in the costume shop over feel nice? Wasn't there this distant satisfaction, when she'd ripped the bear in two, everything she'd destroyed? Doesn't it feel nice, to break something?

Riley's breath hitches and she swallows, glad she's looking away. She- she starts looking for...something, a book, somewhere, a book. Something, something to grab to distract herself. ]

[mcfife]

[Angus retreats to his own book. She can't understand. He knows how that feels. He used to hate everything that Zargothrax was. Still does, mostly for trying to steal his kingdom. Now Angus understands why he had such fondness for destruction. Sometimes it's the only thing that truly makes him happy.

And this dense book does not make him happy. He shoves it away from the chair and stands up.]

This is pointless. We can't simply wait until we see a solution. Why don't we just charge into his hideout and kill him there?

[isawallflower]

Because~ We can't do anything like this~

[ Put the spring back in her step, the song in her voice. Cover up, pretend. Stop thinking that maybe some of that made sense. ]

And apparently, he doesn't die like we think he would. Remember?

[mcfife]

If the Hammer of Glory were charged with the power of a sun in this universe, then they can surely kill him-

[Oh.]

But I am no longer able to utilize that power.

[isawallflower]

[ Faintly, the spines in front of her blurring together: ] And why's that? Because of the...other dimension magic thing?

[mcfife]

That obviously. But even in my home universe, the Hammer can only be wielded by the Good. [pfeh.] That is the balance between the Knife and the Hammer: one destroys Good, the other destroys Evil. Both which can only be wielded by the true...or the wicked.

[And that's not accounting for the third ancient starlord relic which, as everybody knows, is the Vorpal Laserblaster of Pittenweem. Gloryhammer is a real band.]

[isawallflower]

[ Oh, of course! Of course, the Vorpal Laserblaster of Pittenweem! ]

...So. Is it worth it? The Knife. If you can't use the Hammer anymore.

[mcfife]

I have neither now. [Which is great for everyone.] And it's simply an ancient knife without its magic. So I can't say how useful it will be.

[But he does.....miss the Hammer. It was so cool when he swung it around and it made noises. Now he'll need some dumb normal weapon and the prospect is a bit upsetting.]

I'll find something out. It's not the first time I worked without a plan.