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

[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.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

...That is entirely fair. And with that, it surprises me even more, but- ah...

...You can't really help what you feel...is that right?

[robitussin]

I guess not.

[A sigh.]

It sucks.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[She smiles.] Love hurts. But it's still...a wonderful feeling, however fleeting.

[robitussin]

[A sigh, in and out.]

It isn't me I'm worried about.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

Ah...

[Hm.]

It...really isn't the same situation, but...I do have experience when I say death may not prevent her from seeing you again.

[robitussin]

...What do you mean?

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

I've, ah... I don't know...how much you saw of my "Ballad." [Ha... haha...] But...you may have gathered...one thing lead to another and B-ko-chan died back home. It was my fault. I ended up dying too. That would usually be the end of it, but...well, it wasn't. My life is...I suppose you could say it's a story. [Idly, her finger twirls the red ribbon in her hair.]

Here, whoever's holding all the cards, so to speak, views it as a story. Those sorts of people...they can do incredible things. They can revive the actors to set back on stage, and make it play out again. Obviously, that- that's far from an ideal situation. But...with how this places works, I wouldn't be surprised if the others could obtain that power for themselves.

It could be that Jezebel-san and the others could find a way to call for an encore.

[robitussin]

[She pauses. It should be comforting, and it is in a way, but it leaves her with a sense of wrongness too. The dead coming back, in any way... It doesn't sit well with her, somehow.]

Isn't that kind of - terrifying?

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

[...

She smiles.]

It's horrifying, but I've learned to make peace with it here. I simply hoped to offer...some kind of reassurances. That the world doesn't always work the way you think it will.

[robitussin]

Right, no, I mean... Thanks. It's just - really weird to think about.

[lifegoalsorwifegoals]

For the parts that bother you, try not to, Natalie-san. Hime-san doesn't like to, either...and hopefully none of you will have to for much longer.