week 4

[stagemanagers]

[Another week, and two more dead. King Richard and Red are both gone, and once again, it was through nothing more than an accident in the heat of the moment. Maybe if you all stay calm and collected, nothing bad will happen again?

Well, maybe not.

When you wake on Sunday, you'll find that you've recovered another one of those memories - or had another dream, if you still wanna be in denial about it. The grounds remain as they are, but this time, the door blocking the stairwell has been unsealed. You can now venture up to the second floor! This is the second time that's happened; it's almost as if you get more space every time someone dies. Or maybe the whole place just seems quieter.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday


(( Welcome to Week 4! Please remember to submit your AC and your memory regains, as well as your coins! You can also still contact the Phantom. ))

Comments

[heathencall]

[For a moment, Mephisto wonders if he's said something wrong. He isn't sure what could be so offensive about a script, what was so horrifying about a sticker of a frog. He searches Nana's face for an answer, even opens his mouth to ask but --

Finds himself cut off by her song.]

Is it? [Mephisto isn't... doubtful, per se. But given her response, the shaking hand, he worries how much good a script like this can really be.]

I won't keep it from you then. [He pulls his hand back but... hesitates. There's something here, something he should ask after. If he were more like Stephen, maybe he would. Instead he waits, trying to gauge whether or not it's something she wants to talk about.]

[musacal]

Thank you. I appreciate it. I... I love this script a lot, actually. It... means a lot to me.

[ She hugs it close to her chest. Normally this would be when she would be jumping to ask if whomever was present wanted to know about about Starlight, the plot, the downer ending, the role of the Despair Goddess she plays every time, how wonderful that first performance was for her... but this time, it’s not what comes right to her mind. Maybe it’s because she’s with Mephisto, the man who fooled them all originally, that she feels like maybe, just maybe she can let the mask slip for just a second, let some of what Daiba Nana is truly hiding out...

Or maybe it’s just the desperation and seeing the symbol of her own figurative Deal with the Devil re-appear. ]

Mephisto-san...

...if I told you that I knew a way to undo all of this, would you believe me?

[heathencall]

Of course I would.

[He can be glibly honest about that much. It wasn't just that he'd learned of a number of spectacular things since arriving here. No, it was the fact that, if given the ability, Mephisto could right all of this for the better. If his God-given abilities hadn't been removed, he could have stopped this ages ago.]

But there's always a cost. The Phantom's deals. My own. [He leans forward, that earlier caution replaced by a hungry curiosity.]

What's yours, then?

[musacal]

[ Her hands tighten around Starlight and her eyes stay down. ]

I would have to get out of here first. And reclaim position zero.

[ Ahhhhhh....... so not actually. Ideal. ]

...And give up the thing most precious to me.

[ She hugs the script tighter. ]

That’s the “cost”, I guess. It’s not... great I know, but it would... work. And so I can’t stop thinking about it.

[heathencall]

So. You've been thinking about taking the Phantom up on his game, then?

[He won't beat around the bush about it. Admittedly, there's a sharp edge to his voice -- defensive, even. There are people here that he cares about, and even if Nana has a plan to bring everyone back... it's a heavy ask. Especially when he can't be certain that he can trust her to make good on the offer.]

Do you think you're strong enough? To not only kill, but give up your friends here and what's most precious to you out there?

[musacal]

[ She shakes her head. ]

I’m not. I know I’m not. I’m strong enough at a lot of things— I can carry all the heavy groceries home, I can lift my classmates when we do ballet together, I can carry mountains of props, I can cut down everyone in my way no matter how many times it takes and win every duel over and over again in order to get what I want! But I’m not strong enough to kill or hurt people!

[ And that’s when her cheery facade finally weakens and she starts to get emotional, with tears in her eyes. ]

And it’s eating away at me! Because I want to protect everyone! I can give up my repeat performance if I have to for everyone else’s sake, but I can’t hurt anyone! I can’t even stand the thought! I don’t even like the idea of hurting the Phantom much less my friends and everyone who’s been so nice to me!

And so I’m stuck. Knowing I could do something if I wanted to, but knowing I would have to hurt everyone before even attempting to save them. And I can’t. I just can’t.

[heathencall]

[Even after Nana falls silent, Mephisto doesn't speak up. He's caught between himself, two sides warring as they have so often this week. The Mephisto he'd arrived as would have condemned her weakness, her lack of resolve. He would have torn apart her need to give up something she most cared about for humans she'd only just met.

But that's not who he is now. That person, tied to Riley, to Christine, to Red as he is, can understand not wanting to bring harm for the "greater good." That old, rotten part of him that had pitied humans had cracked open, leaving him to empathize with those he'd once decried.]

I've thought about it myself. What I could do with my abilities if I could just break free of this place. But I could not stomach how they might look at me.

I think if I demon cannot fathom the destruction of those standing in his "way," than a child such as yourself should not allow the concept to gnaw away at her.

[A smile.] Unless you'd like to contest that you are stronger than me?

[musacal]

[ She looks up for a moment to catch that smile, before quickly wiping her eyes. ]

You’re right... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought any of that up, I just...

[ She looks back down at the script in her hands. ]

When I saw this and remembered everything I’ve done... for Starlight, I couldn’t help thinking about it again...

[heathencall]

You shouldn't apologize.

[He tries to look as casual as possible about that but... the note of concern is still evident.]

Stephen and I have talked at length about how important it is for us -- all of us -- to be honest about our reservations. [A shrug.] If we know our secrets, there's less to be used to turn us against one another.

[He glances toward the script, studying it as if he might be able to read through the paper.]

Is that what's precious to you, then?

[musacal]

[ She holds it out a bit more, looking it over. ]

Sort of. It’s related to it.

This is the script... of our first year performance of the play “Starlight”. The first play I ever did on an actual stage with other people.

...That performance. That original performance of “Starlight” that we did, together...

[ She hugs the script close again. ]

That’s my most precious thing. It’s a stage just for us. The only stage for me.

[heathencall]

And instead, you were dragged here to perform on a bloody stage such as this one.

[He studies the page awhile longer. It's getting easier to comprehend caring so deeply about something, but the idea of giving that something up? That's harder.]

Why are you so willing to sacrifice it? You've only just met the majority of us. It doesn't seem a fair trade.

[musacal]

[ She keeps her head down and mulls over the question for a while, wondering how much she should say or reveal... but eventually she continues: ]

...I’ve always been alone, you know. Ever since I was young. I’ve never been important enough to anyone that they didn’t decide to leave me behind for something else. That changed when I went to Seisho, but before then it was always that way.

Everyone here though... I may not be friends with everyone, but the people I have interacted with have been so kind and wonderful to me. I’m not saying I’m important to the group but... I feel like people care.

None of this is right. No one should have had to die or be this traumatized. And so I just... feel this need to protect them.

[ And then she pauses again.

“Things like that really shouldn’t go on forever.” ]

...And maybe it’s also time I stopped living a life of encores.

[heathencall]

[As Nana speaks, Mephisto leans back in his chair. He folds his hands over his chest, eyes closed. It might be easily mistaken for ignorance, if not for the way his brow draws knits and unknits itself as she speaks.

When she finishes, he cracks an eye open.]

Do not think for a second that you are not important to this group. [And before she can get the "wrong" idea --] Someone here cares about you, of that much I can be certain. And if nothing else, every person here is one more person that can stand against the Phantom.

[He could leave it at that, maintain some semblance of aloofness. But he relents.]

If nothing else, know that as long as you stand with us, I will stand with you. At least for as long as it takes to return you to where you belong.