week 3

[stagemanagers]

[Two weeks in this place, and two of your number have finally fallen to the machinations of the Phantom. Jonny D’ville and Sigyn are both gone now, and those who survive have been shaken by a number of revelations. Can you go back to the peace you had before?

Though some of you may have corresponded with him, there have been no appearances or announcements from the Phantom since the execution. Nonetheless, things are different on Sunday. For one, you wake up with memories you didn’t possess before. Were they dreams? Were they real? Only you can say.

For another, well…the locked front doors in the lobby have creaked open. You may now venture out onto the grounds. Will you find an escape there? Or is it simply going to be more of the same? Only time will tell.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday


(( Welcome to Week 3! Please remember to submit your AC and your memory regains, as well as your coins! These will now be rolled on Sunday and Wednesday. The Phantom’s inbox remains open as well. ))

Comments

MONDAY

[stagemanagers]

[heathencall]

[On Monday, Mephisto is at least out and about with a little less dramatics. He has some things to get done. He takes his new stash of coins and... Gets a pretty good haul of things out of the merchandise booth, actually.

Most importantly, he has eyes on that gold chain. He looks inspired after pulling that out of his pile of junk, and leaves most of the rest of it discarded at his door. He also throws the rest of his goods out, minus the miniature train and keychain. If you want something... maybe you should chase him down for it?

He doesn't go far, first to the storage room, then the laundry room, and finally to the kitchen.]

I suppose watching you had its advantages, Ariel. [He speaks as he's mixing a substance together and.... dropping the gold chain into it. Eventually, he scrapes out most of the remaining chain residue onto a plate and, if not stopped, he'll be leaving with it.]

[Much later that evening, Mephisto will be out in the yard, a safe distance away from most buildings. He's set up a makeshift stand, residue-turned-powder now coating the bottom of the stand and most of the train itself. Below the stand, several candles burn, apparently heating it up.]

Stay back. I'd rather not have any blood on my hands, this evening.

[If his shouting doesn't attract you, the eventual explosion -- relatively small and "Harmless," but large enough to destroy the train -- probably will.]

Yard

[holyspit]

...Uh-

[This looks mildly concerning?]

[heathencall]

[He holds an arm up, preventing Steven from getting any closer.]

Fulfilling a promise, nothing --

[Crrrrrckkk -- There it goes.]

merch booth because we both lol'd

[37773972]

What the FU-

[You might just be within earshot, Mephy, but that sure is 76 trombones falling out of the merch booth and on to the unfortunate recipient. If nothing else, the clanging of brass might attract attention, and-or the inexplicable sound of BWOM BWOM BWOM BWOOMMMMMMMMM]

[heathencall]

[He had been so determined to get his shit and leave but -- That's a sound that's impossible to ignore, isn't it?

He scrambles back, half-expecting a dead body beneath the mess but. No. Not quite. And... considering everything, once he knows that Stephen's alive, he starts laughing.]

Well done, Dr. Browning.

yard

[itsfromjapan]

Well, that's exciting.

[Evening, Mephisto. There's a strange lack of inflection in the words, the one thing that easily marks the switch from Jeremy to SQUIP. Jeremy and the SQUIP have come to an agreement: Jeremy can have the body during the day, and the SQUIP can have it at night.]

What are you hoping to accomplish?

[heathencall]

[Mephisto was a bit busy having his own crisis to fully understand... all of that. But by this point... he's done being surprised by most things here.

Funny, considering.]

Catharsis. [He gestures to the train.] Sigyn wanted me to help her destroy it. I decided to hold up my end of the bargain.

merch booth wildcard

[isawallflower]

[ Maybe it's as he's walking back from whatever he was doing in the kitchen. But Mephisto's going to hear a...rather familiar shriek, from the lobby. It's followed by quite a lot of clanging, another familiar noise. ]

Yard

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine looks up from her bundle of flowers she's been braiding, giving a warm smile when she sees Mephisto, only to pause, confused, and take a few steps back.]

You know, it would be much easier to trust you if you weren't saying such suspicious things all the ti-eek!

[She jumps when the powder suddenly alights with a loud pop, and she covers her face, though she can't help peering through her fingers to watch the fireworks.]

[bloodycape]

[Come Monday, Red has gotten some of her spirits back thanks to the kind words of others. So, feeling pretty good, she decides to take her coins to the merchandise booth and see what it will get her.

There are several interesting pieces of clothing-- she remembered that Mister Angus had said something about hoping for more clothes. Perhaps she should check with him. She eyes the opera glasses curiously, enjoying them a great deal. Useful!

Red Vines... one of those is going into her mouth as she reads... a letter. Luckily for her, it's not hard to find out who this one belongs to. If you'd like a vine though, she'd be happy to share.

As for the letter, once she's finished taking any other items back to her room-- she decides to properly deliver the letter to is proper owner, searching for Stephen.]

I have a delivery for you Mister Browning!

[37773972]

[Stephen is in his room when she calls for him, and opens the door quickly enough to look down at her in mild confusion]

A delivery?

[garbageface]

[ The night after the trial, Santana had a horrible dream. And since then, she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it. It felt so real, and Sunday morning, she felt like she woke up with the feeling of a slap still buzzing on her palm.

I think I know why you’re so good at tearing other people down.

Monday morning, Santana visits the merchandise booth, and receives, among other things, roses, several Breadstix coupons and a large plush teddy bear. The whole thing feels so insulting, and it’s at that moment that her rage bubbles over. She throws the coupons in her room, grabs her knife, and tapes her photograph of Finn to the bear’s face.

Do you know what I think you are?

She takes the bear and the knife to the dance room, where she proceeds to use that knife to shred the fluffy thing that now bears Finn’s stupid face. Her jabs are sharp, angry. Her eyes are glassy. She keeps hearing that memory of dream-Finn:

A coward.

You might find her slashing at the bear, or you might find her after the job’s all done, sitting ruddy-faced among a pile of fuzz.

That evening, after Santana composes herself, she goes out to the grounds to stare up at the wrought-iron gate. And to any passerby, she’ll say: ]

What if we just, like, threw someone over the gate? Problem solved.

dance room

[justmeheere]

Hey, are you - okaaaaay. This is happening. You. Uh. That bear probably deserved it?

[He has zero idea what he should potentially be saying in this moment, because this seems very personal? But also he uh. Doesn't really want to leave someone with a knife alone just. Given the circumstances.]

gate

[mcfife]

[Angus startles, being deep in thought and contemplation (and generally feeling bummed out) to have noticed Santana speaking initially. He looks up, and up...]

That could work. [It's dramatic and looks heroic. Of course it will work.] We'd need someone who can grab onto the gate safely, but it might...

Grounds

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Christine had, at first, been surprised to hear Santana speaking to her - she's pretty sure they hadn't ended off of the best foot forward, even if Christine did appreciate her speaking up against the Phantom - but her reservations are quickly chased away by that question.]

Ooh! Yes, yes! I'm throwable! I'm pretty tiny! We should try that!

Gate

[holyspit]

...If we're throwing someone I wanna try first.

dance room

[etincelledefierte]

[Claudine was going to do some extra practicing, but she stops short when she sees Santana slashing at the bear.

Instead of just walking in, she knocks at the door, loudly enough that hopefully it will snap the other girl out of it.]

That guy must be a real jerk.

[madgiganticfeelings]

[These past few days have caused Christine to have to rethink a lot of things. The possibility of everyone making it out of here safely, her ability to trust in people she thought she knew the intentions of... her relationship to Jeremy as well. Especially with the dream - now known to be a memory - still hovering in the back of her head.

"Look. I almost destroyed the entire school. Maybe all of human civilization. I know that the last thing I deserve is another shot, but-" Jeremy's frantic excuses are interruped by Christine's gentle, but forceful response.

"Just say what's on your mind, Jeremy."

"...Lunch? Just the two of us?"

Christine offers a wry smile. "And any voices in our heads?"

That memory especially has brought to mind some very important things. One is that SQUIPs are real, and really dangerous.

Another is that she and Jeremy most definitely have them.

So she can be found in the kitchen, with a wide variety of different liquids all crowding out the counter space by the stovetop, where she's hauled out the largest soup pot she can find.

She... definitely does not know how to make soda. But she's going to try. She's also left notes under Red and Angus' doors, just in case they'd like to make good on their desire to assist, but... considering the worried look on her face as she just starts dumping a bottle of siracha into the pan, anyone's help would be much appreciated.

When she's not working on her secret little project, she spends her time outdoors. The evening air is cool and refreshing, for one thing. Mephisto also asked her to explore the area, for another, so she's been poking around the gates, trying to dig underneath the huge iron bars.

When she gets bored of that, though, she can be found in the gardens in particular. (Unfortunately, as much as she adores unicorns, she never really went through a horse phase, enough to learn how to ride.) She spends a lot of time watching the stars, or twirling the stems of flowers together, braiding little flower crowns. It's almost kind of romantic out here in this endless night... which gets her blushing, as she remembers the other bit of knowledge her memory offered her.

When she looks up, she finds herself grateful to see another face nearby, and waves for company.]

Hey! Um, sorry, do you think I could ask you something?

[She seems to regret asking immediately, though, looking down at her fidgety fingers.]

Oh, this is weird...

[Wait, where's that guitar riff coming from?]

LET'S DEW THIS...

[bloodycape]

Miss Christine!

[Red comes skipping into the kitchen with a smile on her face. While she knows nothing about making soda, she knows this is serious-- and it feels good to have someone request her help despite that. Whatever she can do, she'll gladly do to help Christine.]

I came as soon as I saw your letter.

[Looks... like she's started already. Red peers curiously at Christine's work so far.]

gardens!

[etincelledefierte]

Sure, Christine. I’d been meaning to check on you anyway, after everything. What’s up?

Gardens

[holyspit]

[Steven's back at it again, examining the flowers and carefully selecting and re-potting a few of them.]

Oh, hey Christine! Yeah, I've been trying to figure out how they've all grown this well without sunlight.

[That's what she means by weird, right?]

garden, but not like that because we already did that in canon

[justmeheere]

Hey, Christine! I, um. You remember how you were talking about. When we were talking about writing the Phantom letters and you didn't. You didn't have gel pens? I got. The merch person, uh. Gave me these.

[He holds out the gel pens he got, because. You know. This seemed less weird to give to her than. All the stuffed animals he's hoarding.]

INVESTIGATION

[isawallflower]

[ When Riley's having trouble, you know what she does? Put 120% of herself into the problems at hand. So, today? She's investigating around the gate and walls. Looking for anything weird, any sign of age, wear and tear... Basically anything, everything she can find. That's honestly what she's doing for the majority of the day (night? WHY is it always night, if she wasn't so furious with the stupid Phantom—) but.

At some point, she'll take a break. Sit against the barn, with a bottle of water, looking out on the field at nothing in particular. ]

investigation

[stagemanagers]

[The walls and gates don't too terribly aged! Probably roughly the same age of the opera house? It's difficult to tell, but at any rate, you can't find any corroded bars or crumbling stone that might help you break out.]