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

[isawallflower]

[ Riley moves with him. The hiss in her head feels like ice, your fault, your fault, fake little— and she struggles to push it down. She's...exhausted. Keeping it together, earlier, it was almost too much.

Almost. ]

...Dr. Browning... I would've...done it too. [ That's not said in consolation; her choices aren't good. She knows that now. ] How...many times?

[37773972]

I was willing to do as many as I needed. [He swallows, managing a shaky little laugh] With how long I lasted, though, maybe it was for the best I promised to only go back once. I mean, I was going to go back to the beginning after, but...

[He trails off, then, out of the blue]

...Riley? Can you- call me Stephen? I should have told you earlier, but...you're not one of my students. You can do that.

[isawallflower]

[ Her voice is soft, very soft, when she responds: ]

I'd've liked to call you dad.

[ She's not looking at him. Not looking at anything but the floor. This isn't fair. But, she's stuck in it, and can't help but admit- ]

...I- I wanted you to...hear that too.

[37773972]

{Oh.

Oh.

He goes quiet for a while. But then his hand raises, hesitates, and then comes to rest on her far shoulder, hugging her to him]

...I'd have been honored.

[isawallflower]

I didn't think you deserved it.

[ She's tense, but she doesn't pull away. ]

To- s-someone like me. Someone so- [ Her knees press tightly together, and it's so much like that afternoon under the stars that she can't breathe. ] ...You...you did it...for us. Didn't you?

[ Kill to save. She understands it, she hates that she understands it, if she understands it, that's bad. ]

[37773972]

[well his arm's just gonna half fall off her then. Kind of...stay there, but only for a moment. He pulls it back, both hands resting in his lap as he looks down at them]

...the plan was to get as much information about the Wizard as I possibly could. I didn't think I could beat him in a fight, not with all he's already pulled, and the Phantom...didn't react to being stabbed at all. [His voice is soft, but steady] Either way, once I had everything I could use, I'd have asked him to send me back to the beginning.

[He swallows thickly, closing his eyes]

...I was going to tell him I made a mistake falling in love here. Because it- was the earliest one I could think of. The earliest thing that I thought might convince him I was being sincere, and not just...trying to save everyone.

[isawallflower]

[ She's quiet, for a moment. Her eyes down, her body rigid. ]

...It was really stupid. [ She's...mumbling. ] I d- ...I wouldn't wanna forget. Even if you could've-

[ And, she curls more in on herself, wrapping her arms around her knees. ]

This is still better. He would've said so too.

[37773972]

[And that...has him look at her. He was prepared for hate, prepared to be told he's wrong, but...]

...you wouldn't have had to see anyone die. You wouldn't have...[Killed anyone else.]

[isawallflower]

No one would've tried to catch me.

[ Into her knees. With her hair down, it's hard to even see her face. It serves as a curtain, hiding her teary eyes. ]

No one would've held me when I cried.

You guys are all I have left now. Even if you...saved us, I'd just- [ ....... ] I'd go back. And I'd be alone.

[37773972]

I...Riley...

[He didn't...he hadn't...it's...almost alien to him, but at the same time, he's...

He's speechless, and it shows. But there's an emotion in his face, a deep pain]

[isawallflower]

[ If he's not going to talk, she is. And it's hard, but- at least she's getting the words out. ]

I don't...deserve that. F-for everyone else to- 'cause I'm...like this. But. [ Squeezing her legs tighter, now. She- she casts a single glance, afraid of catching his eye. One hand withdraws, and with it comes a note. A letter. One that she'll hand over, should he want to take it. ] I th-think...he would've said the same thing?

[37773972]

[He listens to her trying, at least. And, in turn, tries to understand. This- this poor girl, who deserves a loving family, a father, a mother, she deserves help and support, saying she'd rather keep what happened?...

Stephen's hand reaches out to take the letter. He scans it, then...rereads it. Then swallows, taking a deep, shuddering breath.]

I betrayed him.

[Sorry Riley, your not-dad looks like he's on the verge of breaking all over again]

Angel, angel, what have I done?
I faced the noose, the dark, the fire
Braved and beat them on my own
When I promised you forever

[...sorry, did we say 'on the verge'? That sure is his head falling in to his palm, and the letter falling from his other hand]

[isawallflower]

[ She's sorry. She really is. She knew this would hurt, showing him. But, for once—

She weighed the choices over and over in her mind. And for once, a little hurting to help...maybe seems like a good idea.

She inches closer, leaning her head against his shoulder. A little, small nod. ]

You...were trying to...save us, but- [ He threw them away. She can't say it. But, it's what he told her, and it's true, even now.

And yet, she stays right there. The closer hand reaches up and rests itself on his arm. ] ...We sh-should've. Trusted them.

[37773972]

[He fucked up, he fucked up, he fucked up- he remembers seeing their faces before, once he'd passed the point of no return, the way everyone had looked at him, the way Mephisto had looked at him, he hadn't wanted to do it before, it was the only way, he was back, he changed it, he did it all over again

He pulls away from her touch, getting to his feet and- not leaving, just. Going over to the dresser and putting his hands on it, shuddering as he tries to regain control of himself]

[isawallflower]

[ As he stands, Riley flinches. Immediately, her thought is she said the wrong thing. Again. Now, he's leaving her, and she's- alone, gonna always be alone, not even Cairo would stay with her--

And a small whimper escapes her, as she lifts her head and watches and...no. No, he's just... Shame floods her. This isn't about her right now. She stays sitting there, waiting. ]

...Sorry. I'm sorry.

[37773972]

No. [His voice is a choke] You're right, Riley, you're- god damn it! [He slams his hand - uninjured! - on to the dresser in frustration, fighting back another set of tears. He thought that he was out of them, but here he is-] He was right, too, we're not so fucking different, using people, I-fuck!

[isawallflower]

[ Last she could interact with him, his arms were fucked to hell. So. Riley stumbles to her feet. ]

H-hey— [ Scrambling towards him. ] Don't- careful, it still- it still hurts.

cw; tentatively warning for self-harm mood?

[37773972]

I want it to hurt! [He turns back at her] I deserve it to hurt, I fucking deserve to burn, just like he said-!

[Like Mephisto said. But a moment later he seems to re-realize where he is, who he's talking to, and he looks stricken]

Riley, I- I'm sorry. I need a minute.

[isawallflower]

[ A slow breath as she stops short. Her hands hover in front of her, stuck in a position of half-reaching out, half-protecting herself. And... ]

...It's okay. [ How can she say that? But- ] It's- ...I understand. I- ...I know.

[37773972]

[He wants to yell back that no, she doesn't, how could she possibly know what it's like to

betray

someone you

love.



She's probably the only person who understands. What it's like to deliberately go through this, hating every moment of it, but thinking, if only for a moment, that you can fix things.

Stephen doesn't collapse or fall, but he sort of...slumps against the vanity, head down. There's a shaky little nod of acknowledgement - acceptance? - of her words, but for the moment, he's just trying to focus on his breathing.]

[isawallflower]

[ Riley inches over again. She-- ]

I...did I ever tell you about Cairo? I...know I- in my letter. She- ...we were best friends... She was the only person who-

[ ...This hurts. This. Really hurts. And she can't- put it to words, she-

Ah. Like clockwork, there's a beat.

Okay. Riley gives herself over to it. ]

She was-
she was-
Everything I'm not, my whole universe.
And I was a footnote, a slim second verse.
But she was the chorus, the hook and the groove,
And without her there pushing, somehow I can't... move.

[ Abruptly, she turns away, breath quickening. She's- furious, but not at Stephen. He should be familiar with that, shouldn't he? She places a hand against the large mirror on the wall, to right herself. ]

So I sit in this place that I'm stuck inside,
Sinking down in this void like a crater!
Getting lost in a world that I can't rewind-
It's too late and it's just getting later!

[37773972]

[Stephen...is tired of giving in to the music. He let it swirl about him like a shield, before, but what good did that do? In the end, it was all for nothing. But he watches, and he listens, and after a few seconds, he moves to stand behind her.

Not touching her shoulders this time, just...support in presence. But...voice does come, before too long;]

We were mad to reach
Mad to try

[And he looks up from her, to the mirror, imagining, just for a moment, it's someone else he's standing behind]

They're still alive
The space we left
We left them there
Still we reach...

[isawallflower]

And still we care...!

[ She sucks in a breath and...gives him a look. It's haunted. She's been haunted for weeks and weeks, by her own actions. Pain, and shame, and hatred, and regret. ]

And time expands,
The beat goes on,
We were mad, mad-
And now we're...

[37773972]

He was...
He was...

[Stephen hasn't had...quite as much time to get used to this as Riley has. But the haunted look in his own face- he's spent the last few days holding back the trauma of watching the others die. Die, knowing he was at fault. The fact he erased it doesn't change it in his memories, nor, apparently, enough of anything to have prevented him from trying again.

His face is a mirror of hers.]

Over and over
His words to me echo
Over and over
As if I did not know...

[I hope that you burn. Oh, Mephisto, he already knows he will. If he ever gets out of this purgatory, he knows exactly where he's going, and if he doesn't? He's tried to force it, because it's only what he deserves.]

There's a black hole
A vacuum, it's deep in this place
It swallows what matters
And it leaves no trace
Where hope is suspended
In physics and time
Every word we say
Hangs like an unfinished...rhyme.

[isawallflower]

[ Her hand curls to a fist on the mirror. One single slam. Because that's it, that's how this feels. That's how all of this feels. ]

So we stay in the vacuum we're stuck inside,
And I sift through each day for an ember!
For a spark that will light,
'Cause I can't rewind.
I unravel until I remember...!

[ For a moment. For a moment, she can look at her own reflection and imagine...a different place. Two much younger girls. Cairo braiding her hair, chatting away about something and Riley just...serene.

Why couldn't she be satisfied, just with that? ]

Sitting on your bed,
'Fore I went too far.

[ The fist uncurls, and she reaches for the girls that aren't there. ]

When I was your orbit,
And you were my star.

[ She blinks. The moment's gone. ]

But now here's the black hole,
And I am left numb...

[ And. She keeps singing, but her eyes focus on Stephen, and she's almost confused, to still be here. ]