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

[prophetpriestandking]

[Despite losing track of the days, Mumble's been anticipating seeing someone new around here. He's desperately hoped it wouldn't be the case, hoping that this would be the last of this, but -]

V-Varian?

[All color would drain from his face, but it's covered in feathers now. His beak simply drops.]

Varian, no, not - not you...

[alchemistake]

[It's likely that by the time Mumble comes across Varian, he's had...some time to cry, to process, to think about everything he's been through. Not a whole LOT of time? Nowhere near enough time, but enough that he won't be a sobbing mess on the poor penguin like he was with B.

Which...is probably a good thing, considering the fact that when Varian looks up, he's looking into the face of a real life penguin.]

Ah-!

[He's sorry Mumble, he doesn't mean to like...scream, but you frightened him a little. Now that he's gotten past that initial shock though, he's going to lean in slightly, boggling for a moment until he spots the bow-tie pattern of his feathers, the softness of his eyes that isn't quite so like a wild animal, and...]

...Mumble? Is that....you?

[prophetpriestandking]

[Varian's reaction takes him aback, but he exhales in a fond relief soon after. It's bittersweet; he's so happy to see Varian again, but, like this?]

Yes! Yes - the- Mr. Balladeer changed me back!

[He raises his flippers in show, then returns them back to his sides.]

A-are you - [There's concern in his little penguin eyes.] ...How are you holding up?

[alchemistake]

[It's something else, seeing Mumble as the penguin he's meant to be. It does also mean that Varian can sit on the floor in front of him and not feel bad about just...sitting there, tempted to wallow in his sadness instead of doing anything particularly useful with himself. He's still toying with that sunflower he woke up with, unsure how long it's really going to last.

He wants to hope it came from the others. His family.

All of a sudden, he can't quite meet his eyes.]

I'm...here, I guess.

[Not alive though, that much is plain if he's seeing Mumble. The weird magic keeping him in human form must not be able to apply to spirits, but then...

Why are they still here?]

Mumble, something...r-really bad happened.

[prophetpriestandking]

[Mumble edges closer, hoping to provide a comforting presence as penguins do for each other in the huddle. It pains him to see Varian like this - more than he could've ever anticipated - and if he could do anything, just anything to help ease it for him...that'd be enough.]

W-what...what happened, Varian?

[alchemistake]

[Varian lets his hands hang loose on his knees as Mumble waddles closer to him. It's not a long story...but it's not a good one, either.]

I accidentally...

[He closes his eyes tight. He's already admitted it once, twice now if you count his conversation with B.]

Rina...I was upset, and I pushed her away from me. When she fell, she...got hurt.

[prophetpriestandking]

[Oh. Oh. Oh no.]

...Hurt bad, huh.

[He sighs the words, tired, defeated, sad and sorry to see Varian go through this, and to have gone through even more. He doesn't need to hear more on that. Varian doesn't need to say it.]

I'm so sorry, Varian. [He gives him a light consolatory touch with his flipper. Downy enough to wipe away any tear.] It's - it's not fair. It's not right that this is happening. That the wizard -

[He notices himself getting angry at the thought. It's far from what Varian needs right now, and reels it in.]

It'll be okay. You, Rina, you're with us now. [He smiles with his eyes.] We'll get out of here, and then - then you'll see - everything'll be alright.

[alchemistake]

[Even though Mumble is a penguin now, it's still Mumble. His voice is the same, his kindness rings as true as it ever did...he wants to believe what he's saying is true.

But it's hard, given everything he'd just been through. It's really hard.]

I...I hope so.

[He swallows, scrubbing at the corner of one of his eyes.]

I guess y-you've...been here for a while.

[prophetpriestandking]

...Yeah. A few weeks, now? I think...it gets hard to tell, sometimes.

[Although, now the rollover into the new week comes with its own horrible reminder.]

It gets easier. The whole - [He lightly raises his flippers, then drops them back down again.] - thing. The - the being dead thing.

[His voice falters.]

I thought I'd never see you again.

[alchemistake]

[That's difficult to hear, even though he knows it has been a few weeks for Mumble, now. He'd been dead since the second week, so...

Varian nods, anxiously pulling at his own fingers.]

I know. I never thought I'd seen you again either. Especially not...

[He sort of indicates "all of Mumble"]

Like yourself. I guess the Wizard's power can't keep you human forever here.

[prophetpriestandking]

O-oh, no, that was The Balladeer. When I died, I was still a human, but then he changed me back!

[He holds up his flippers.]

So...now you've seen a real penguin. Not just one in a book.

[Silver linings???]

[alchemistake]

I have seen a real penguin...

[That's honestly one thing worth smiling about.

...

Although...]

Would...you mind if I touched you? You uh...you look really soft...

[prophetpriestandking]

[Mumble nods. He understands the importance of needing to touch a fluffy animal when you're sad.]

Go ahead. [He doesn't really know what else to do but just...stand there, so he does just that.] Guess it's a good thing I still have all these baby feathers. More fluff.

[alchemistake]

[Don't worry, Varian will be very gentle. He has...more experience with wild animals than he should, probably, and Mumble is at least one that can actually talk.

He pets Mumble gently, a smile tugging at his lips in spite of himself.]

Baby feathers, is that what they are? Here I thought all penguins were just...you know. Like that.

[prophetpriestandking]

[He shakes his head, careful not to shake off Varian's hand.]

No...usually adult penguins are black, like this. [He gestures to the little bits of adult plumage past his chest] E-everyone lost their baby feathers at graduation, but I - [He smiles, a little bitter sweet.] We had a graduation of our own.

[alchemistake]

That's pretty cool. I feel like I'm learning something new about penguins every day.

[Or, well, every time he gets to talk to Mumble...which is going to be a lot now, as sad as that is.]

[prophetpriestandking]

[A light laugh.]

Now you know how I feel.

[alchemistake]

Hah, yeah. I guess the whole human thing has been...really a lot to get used to. I mean, we're not exactly simple creatures.

[More gentle petting]

[prophetpriestandking]

You can say that again. You guys are - you're not like anything I imagined. I used to think you were aliens, or, mystic beings.

[Gentle shrug. Can penguins shrug? He does an approximation of a shrug.]

Turns out...we're not so different. [He thinks for a moment.] Even though it ended up like this, I'm pretty glad.

[alchemistake]

Yeah, I...I'm glad too. I've said it before, but even with everything that's happened...I don't think I'd want to take back meeting you guys.

[He thinks back on everyone. Not just Mumble, or the others here, but the living he'd just recently left behind...]

I could have...definitely handled things better, but without you all...I imagine it could have been a lot worse, too.