the mark of those who cannot be saved

[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, that's no excuse for truancy! Which is to say: you are still in the school.

For those executed, you will wake up in your beds. The dormitories look exactly as they did when you first arrived, without any of the changes or personal effects you and your dormmates might have made. The only real difference is that the little cot in Ambassador isn't there.

For those who were victims, you will wake where your body was discovered. All of your injuries are gone, and you feel fine. It's almost like you're still alive - but you remember what happened to you. It couldn't have just been a dream, could it?

The school looks much as you remember it, save perhaps for a few key differences. For one, there's no groundhog murals anywhere. Where things were green on the other side, like banners or paint, you'll find that here they're blood red.

The doors, for the moment, are still locked. Looks like even death couldn't free you.]

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

(( ooc: Welcome to deadland, everyone! It mostly resembles the school here, and new floors will be revealed after new people die. For example, the second area will unlock after the week 3 dead arrive, and so on. Also, all dead characters will wake up at their actual canonpoint, with all lost memories restored. Have fun being dead! ))

Comments

[violentenvies]

[lskdhfs well that is.

A lot.]

That is certainly a list of options.

[he considers]

...which one do you think would suit me? [arched eyebrow]

[disharmonizes]

...Are you sure you want to leave it up to me?

Does that seem safe to you?

[violentenvies]

I didn't say I was leaving it up to you, I was just curious as to your opinion.

[voicerights]

You assume there isn't time in the first place. [And now it glances back towards Salieri] Unlike elsewhere, we are not constrained by deadlines.

[You know. The whole 'murder someone ASAP' thing.]

[disharmonizes]

Technically you are, considering it's my powers anyway, but.

I'm not sure I can picture you as a dragon or griffon or anything like that. Perhaps a pony is the best option.

[violentenvies]

But you can picture me as a pony, then. [amused]

Duly noted.

[disharmonizes]

I could definitely see it, yes.

Unicorns are rather stuck up. Perhaps one of those.

[violentenvies]

A unicorn. [that's...a surprise] Not what I would've expected.

[disharmonizes]

Oh? You had expectations?

[tellthestory]

...she pulled me out of my show before I got...whatever, there.

[He still doesn't know what his canon fate qualifies as, exactly. He just knows how terrified he'd felt. When you're the narrator, knowing for sure that something horrible is about to happen to you...you can't dismiss that as paranoia.]

So I could help her with the other show.

[voicerights]

...and she never told you what 'whatever' was.

[HM^TM]

[tellthestory]

To be fair, I never really asked.

[He never thought about it all that much, before he read the script? As frightening as it was...well, it'd been easy to assume that it was something fairly straightforward. They'd have kicked the crap out of him, or just shot him, or something like that. The ambiguity is what bothers him.]

[violentenvies]

Not precisely. Only...unicorns in the mythology I'm used to are rare creatures that only appear to things like kings, errant knights and young ladies who are pure of heart and all that. [he waves his free hand, as if to indicate "all that"]

[violentenvies]

[It takes him half a moment to work out what "deadlines" means, but when he does, he makes an incredulous half-snort]

Perhaps not, but that hardly means that there's time. [he takes a step back from the piano]

Everyone else is still...there. There is work to be done, and I not yet know what has already been attempted.

[disharmonizes]

[......okay yep he's gonna laugh at that]

Oh, that's rich. Unicorns are no more special than any other kind of pony, even if I'm sure some of them would say otherwise.

[Somewhere in the distance, there is a GREAT and POWERFUL sound of disagreement.]

Mostly I've found they're prone to being anxious and making bad decisions.

[violentenvies]

[Salieri puts his face in his hands for a long moment, head bent, trying to control his breathing.

After a moment, quietly]

I am a damned fool.

[violentenvies]

[....ah]

In that case, I suppose it would be rather fitting. [ruefully]

[disharmonizes]

[Just kind of. drapes over him.]

Yes, I thought so~

[violentenvies]

[Discord drapes over him and the contact is far more comforting than he could have expected. Salieri might just be leaning into that contact a bit]

It sounds like there are more than one type of pony, however. Unicorns...what else?

[maybe the leaning feels even nicer because he still feels exhausted but...he doesn't want to stop this conversation either. It feels good to just...talk about nothing of true consequence for a bit.]

[tellthestory]

[The Balladeer would like to be nice, but he's having trouble finding an argument for that at present. After a moment, he volunteers:]

Could've been worse. You didn't stab someone else.

[voicerights]

[at that, it regards him for a long momeny. Finally;]

You think the same as Elizabeth.

[With that, it promptly heads for the door. A few minutes later, it returns - holding a piece of paper, folded in to thirds. This, it offers out to Salieri.]

Here.

[violentenvies]

["You didn't stab someone else."

That hits like a slap, like a stab, and Salieri recoils in on himself, hunching over, fingers going into his hair, clenching tight]

I might as well have.

[violentenvies]

[Salieri blinks as the SQUIP walks out the door, wondering what that was about--and he looks around the band room, ducking down to check the bottom of the piano bench (to find nothing, nothing) before pushing to his feet just in time for the SQUIP to come back in.

He frowns, slightly, at the pamphlet but...after a moment, moves to take it from it's hand.

Salieri opens it, and begins to read through, brow furrowing as he does so. When he finishes, he looks back up at the SQUIP, folding the pamphlet back up]

What investigations of the school and the grounds have already been done?

[voicerights]

Only so much. Information of note is recorded within that. [A brief gesture towards the pamphlet; aside from Connor's shitpost-summary, the SQUIP has at least made an attempt to be detailed and informative with it] By all appearances, it is nearly identical to the previous dimension. The color scheme appears to be the greatest change.

[tellthestory]

[The Balladeer sighs and gets up, going over to plop down next to Salieri again. He shouldn't have snapped. It was a stupid thing to do, but he shouldn't have snapped.]

...we've all done stupid things we regret, okay? I - I practically asked to get killed, doing what I did. [...] Come on, that must hurt.

[He reaches out to try and disentangle Salieri's nearest hand from his hair.]