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

[37773972]

...the SQUIP said I fucked it up for everyone. [Hnh.] Guess I'll add that to my list.

Our...memories don't allow us to go any further, do they?

[mcfife]

No.

[This is pretty much the main reason he hates you, Stephen.]

Did the Phantom reveal anything new to you?

[37773972]

[...]

That the Wizard was upset. That he'd never seen him like that before. Who knows?...maybe the guy does have a conscience after all, twisted as it is. Maybe they can use that, or...

[...he trails off, something occurring to him- and then he turns on his heel and heads back to the Opera House]

[mcfife]

What? What is it?

[Angus follows him, Hammer in hand.]

[37773972]

Memories. I remember winning. Maybe- maybe there's something we can do with that. It all happened in the trial room, we didn't go anywhere, but...

[It's the only thought he has right now, and god damn it, let him do something right today!]

[mcfife]

[Oh.

Angus hurries up, forgetting his former despair.] The Wizard appeared before you in the orchestra pit? Where was he before?

[37773972]

He just- appeared. Out of nowhere, like he'd been standing there all along. There has to be something I can do with this...!

[mcfife]

[He stops in his track.s] Normally, those doors don't open on our command.

[37773972]

But this place is memories, right? If we just- remember them being open-!

[He's desperate, clutching at straws. For something.]

[mcfife]

[...If Stephen is crying and desperate enough, Angus will assist. He remembers how they looked when he entered the trial room, and stares the doors down.]

Open, dark gates of stone.

cw; light emeto mention

[37773972]

[No tears for the moment, but he's certainly seeming...well, not unhinged, but nearing that frantic energy he had in the trial. Once he reaches the doors, he stands in front of them, looking them over before grabbing the handle and pulling.

Nothing.

He beats on it, once, then takes a step back, breathes, and just...does nothing. His brow furrows - perhaps as he's trying to focus? To remember.

Remember how he went in, both times, ready to die - but praying to live just a little bit longer.
Remember how he stood there, both times, letting them argue among themselves.
How the first time, when Mephisto had pressed, he'd stayed silent and shook his head- but the second, he faltered.
How they looked at him when they realized what he had done.

He steps forwards, now, resting a palm on the door, remembering every second of that damned aftermath. Again, he feels sick, from remembering the corpses, the way the Phantom handled them, to that blank spot in his mind that is the Wizard's face but not his actions, how he said Stephen was sick, how they argued, how Stephen tried appealing to that shred of conscience he saw...

He falls to his knees, forehead pressed against the door. A wretched sound tears itself from his throat, followed by weak song;]

This is not how I wanted to end
I will never be unbroken again.