and I know things now, many valuable things

[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. It's your dressing room, that much is certain, but 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, you're not out of the woods yet.]





[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

[robitussin]

[She listens and processes all of that. Now comes the harder question, but one that's necessary all the same.]

If we hadn't realized the thing with the contact lens... Would you have let us all die, or would you have said something?

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[It's a harder question and at the same time, it's a harder answer. She drops her eyes.]

I...

...I'm very far from a good person. But you, and Hime-san, and some of the others...you mattered to me very much. I think I wouldn't have been able to stay quiet. [And looks back up.] I hope I wouldn't have been able to.

[robitussin]

[Somehow, that answer means much more to her than 'of course I would have!' or something else similar. It strikes her as more honest, more open. It's not enough to forget; she never will, and truth be told, she doesn't think she'll ever really trust D-ne again. But they're both stuck here for god knows how long, and it really does feel like most of her anger and bitterness has faded away.]

...You know, more than anything, I'm really tired of being lied to. So - thanks for not doing that.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[Trust is something D-ne doesn't deserve. She knows that, very well, so if she was privy to that knowledge it wouldn't be an insult or a slap to the face, just an accepted reality. This, already, is more than she ever thought she'd get.]

A-ah- then you're...very welcome. I promise...utter brutal honesty, as long as we're here.

[robitussin]

Brutal, huh? Should I be worried?

[It's said much more lightly than everything else.]

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

Oh, no, you were one of the few here I actually hadn't a single bad thought about!

[..........IT BEGINS]

[robitussin]

...Wait, seriously? Why me?

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[...blinks]

Because I just didn't. You weren't overly trusting, and didn't seem to be hiding behind a false persona, and you weren't...kind for no reason. You, ah...you felt a lot more approachable than anyone I'd ever met.

[that seems to surprise her to say? but yeah, she sticks with it.]

[robitussin]

...There's nothing wrong with being trusting or kind, you know. The others - you really thought that of them?

[It's strange. She's already firmly put at least five of them (Anna, Raoul, Jezebel, Hime, Eliza) in a category that can only be described as 'better than her' - kinder, more understanding, more caring. It feels strange to hear what D-ne is saying.]

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

...I thought so many of them were foolish for hoping, and for calling me a friend so easily. I thought they'd die because of it and- ...well, funnily enough, so few of them are here. I guess I'm a bit of a fool for that.

[Welcome to the wonderful world of honesty with D-ne.]

The sweet, kind classmates at home, I hated their pitying, because I knew it wasn't genuine. There was nothing to like about me, after all...so why would they? [She smiles.] I thought that here as well.

[robitussin]

...I know what pity feels like. If the people here cared about you, it wasn't just because of that.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

...You think so? I know some likely didn't, but...

[robitussin]

Well, who were you thinking of, specifically? Maybe I can tell you a little about what you've missed about everyone.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

Anna-san, or Eliza-san. Raoul-san, for a time. Jezebel-san. ...Not Hans-san, but him I didn't like for other reasons. Admittedly, much of my perception of things has, ah...changed, in my time here.

[robitussin]

Hans can go fuck himself with a rusty chainsaw.

[Anyways.]

The rest of them, though - I don't think they're like that. They've always been honest with me. Or, they were.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[oh my god-] My suspicions were right about him? A-ah, never mind that- you did spend more time with them than me, so I should take your word for it.

[robitussin]

He tried to murder Anna's sister and take their kingdom? So, yeah, I'm pretty sure whatever you were suspecting is accurate.

[She nods, though.]

Anna and Eliza and Raoul... They were all my friends.

[Were. It still stings. She can't really help the note of worry that comes in her voice.]

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

...That's par for what I thought, yes. [Soft, and musing. Never trust someone with the title The Mirror, especially if you're described as one yourself!

But...]

...I'm sorry... I know there's nothing reassuring to say to this...but I'm glad at least you were surrounded by genuine people.

[robitussin]

Yeah. Fuck him.

[A short shake of her head.]

It's not that.

[At least, what she thinks 'that' might be. She's assuming D-ne is just concerned that she misses them, but... She knows how she felt every time she ventured out on Friday morning to find someone she cared about dead. Even if she doesn't necessarily understand it, she knows a good number of them cared about her. She never wanted to inspire that feeling in anyone else, even if it wasn't something she caused personally.

Regardless.]

It's nothing. Don't worry about it.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[D-ne watches her, wanting to know what to say, but... Well, she's not very good at that, figuring out people, knowing what to say and how to interact with them. Everything good she's said here has come from something Hime had, or something B-ko or A-ya mused about, so...]

Of course. [She smiles.] ...You hadn't mentioned Jezebel-san. Was she...not your friend?

[robitussin]

[Predictably, she goes a bit red, even if she tries to keep cool.]

She was, but - more than that, too.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

...Oh.

[Well then!]

With what you told me before, I hadn't thought... Oh.

["Congratulations" in this situation is a little unfitting.]

[robitussin]

What I told you before?

[Looks like you might have to spell it out.]

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

...Well, we talked...about romance before. When I told you about B-ko-chan. And you'd told me you weren't one to get involved.

[robitussin]

I mean, considering the present circumstances, maybe it wasn't such a great idea to get involved this time either.