curtainsdown | the mark of those who cannot be saved

[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! ))

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[Fortunately, Varian doesn't have it in him to relive all of that twice. He just...doesn't want him to get the wrong idea, that he went and hurt Rina on purpose. Sure, that doesn't make it any better, but...it maybe tempers the reality, if only a little.

The singing is soothing. It does a lot to help him calm down, even if he's still struggling to push down the panic threatening to well up and over and swallow him whole.

There's...a lot that the Balladeer missed in his very short absence. It's kindof shocking, when Varian stops long enough to think about it.]

I'm sorry.

[He's apologizing even if he doesn't have to, because the Balladeer died, and Varian went and made another body barely two days after. But he isn't just sorry for that...he's sorry for what happened to him, too.

It's...kindof been a bad week all around.]

I know. It's okay. You're okay.

[He can't offer forgiveness on Rina's behalf, but he can at least speak for himself. He's not angry. It's all just sad. He holds Varian close.]

Walk on, walk on,
With hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone.
And you'll never walk alone.

[And you'll never walk alone...

That was one of the last things Farrah ever said to him. That he wouldn't be alone. Her singing was all he could think about, when he looked out at her and Salieri before he succumbed.

And it's that thought- the realization that he had been executed, that he died- is what finally pulls him out of his anguish long enough to look up at the Balladeer, still close enough to be held but so he can see his face.]

Y...you have to tell me what's going on here. I don't...I don't understand, why-

[Why are they still here?]

[He loosens his grip enough to let Varian pull back a little, but doesn't let go entirely. He won't until Varian wants him to.]

...I don't know everything. Hardly anything about here. But I've remembered some stuff. This happens in all the shows like this I know about - the dead people sticking around. In mine - the one I was part of - I was able to bring them all back at the end.

You were able to...

[God. He doesn't dare hope. He doesn't want to put that kind of pressure on the Balladeer either, but...]

Do you think you could...this time?

[The Balladeer winces, immediately feeling horrible for bringing it up.]

I'm sorry, I don't...think I can. I wasn't dead myself then, from this side, I don't...

Oh, n-no...it's okay.

[He can't expect the Balladeer to be able to do feats he can't, after all...

Varian sags a little, but...it's fine. Well, it's not FINE, but...he knows he's just going to have to accept this. When you kill somebody, that's pretty final...same with when you're executed.]

There was something I wanted to tell you about anyway...something that happened with my execution.

...oh.

[His brow furrows; the Balladeer does not especially want to hear about how Varian got executed. It was probably terrible. But, you know, he will.]

Okay. What is it?

[Is it better or worse that Varian doesn't actually plan on focusing as much on detailing how he was executed, and more...

What- or who- was present for it?]

There was a mannequin there, like with the others, but...there was just one. And it...it was playing music.

[...]

I...think it was supposed to be you. It was dressed like you and everything. When...when it was time for me to die, it sat with me until I fell asleep...

That was not me.

[It's something that needs saying, because as far as the Balladeer is concerned, it's possible. The Wizard probably could've made that happen. But he didn't; he has no awareness of having been anywhere other than here since his death.]

I'm...glad it helped you. If it did. I - that's what I would have wanted, but...I've just been here.

[Okay...okay honestly, that's a relief for him to hear. It's...confusing, to be sure, but still a relief.]

It doesn't make any sense. I don't know...why the Wizard even bothered doing that.

[It was as if he cared about Varian not suffering for his execution, which clearly hasn't been a theme for previous weeks.]

...he told me I wasn't a monster. As if he has any room to talk.

Well, broken clocks and all that...

[All opinions on the Wizard aside, that's one judgement the Balladeer's not inclined to argue with him on.]

You don't really need to be a good person to know what that is.

Maybe...

[Varian still seems unsure, though. It's going to be difficult to convince him otherwise, even after how the trial went.]

I figured...maybe after I was gone, I'd at least be able to go home. Or...not be here still. I don't get what the point of any of this even was.

Who knows? I mean, there must've been one - but it's gonna be hard to figure it out from here.

[If they don't come back...what else might happen? Even if the show doesn't have a happy ending, it's got to end some way or another.]

I'm sure we won't be...stuck here forever. He won't keep this place running like this forever.

He did put a time limit on it, but honestly I was never sure how much I believed that.

[Still...he'd been doing a pretty good job of sticking to that. People have died every single week, haven't they?]

Oh, no, that's true. Not to defend him, necessarily...but that's definitely true. I'd give it...six, seven weeks?

[Varian hesitates, counting in his head. How many has it been now...]

So what happens after the time is up?

They're gonna have to deal with the Wizard, one way or another. Maybe Hester too, a little - that's how...well, that's what they tried to do with me.

Hester...it doesn't seem like she's ever really wanted much to do with the stuff that's been hurting us. Maybe she didn't care at first, but...I don't know. It feels like something's starting to change.

Well, I -

[Wasn't that thrilled about it either. But that feels...defensive. The Balladeer goes quiet for a moment.]

They'll need to talk her down. That's probably all.

the mark of those who cannot be saved

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