week 5

[stagemanagers]

[That was...an absolute shitshow. More beloved friends are dead in a mess of a trial that's left Angus half the man he was, Riley in a free fall and the Phantom...somehow still standing despite taking two stabs to the torso.

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 door blocking the stairwell on the second floor has been unsealed. You can now venture up to the third floor! You have so much space now, it's just a shame it's all come at the cost of eight lives.

But despite the tragedy you have made progress! The trip into the Phantom's lair yielded some hints to the past of the Opera House, your house manager's apparently grim hobby and the possibility of an ally outside the Opera House. Who knows what this week will bring?]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday


(( Welcome to Week 5! Please remember to submit your AC and your memory regains, as well as your coins! You can also still contact the Phantom. ))

Comments

[holyspit]

[Steven wakes up in the stables this morning, breathing in sharply and grabbing at his stomach before reality settles back in. Lion is still here, rumbling slowly in his sleep, and Steven sinks back against the solid softness of his massive form. He takes a second to check his gem, like he's confirming its presence, one last time.]

[Anyone passing nearby in the morning might be drawn in by the sound of sobbing, relieved laughter.]

[Steven's still outside most of the rest of the morning, tending to the newly marked graves. All of them now have flowers, transplanted from the garden, planted near the headstones.]

[The kinds of flowers vary; Angus has just a few pale lilies growing next to his stone. Spinel has been given a huge variety, though if someone thinks to look they'll find a very deliberate lack of roses or pink flowers here.]

[Unless for some reason you count Steven himself, sitting quietly in front of her grave for a while.]

I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner. You deserved a better friend than mom or me.

[And much later on, in the bakery, he's- oh. That's a fire, things are definitely on fire here.]

Grease fire! GREASE FIRE! AAH-!

[At least he's beating at the flaming deep fryer with a large cookie sheet instead of throwing water on it?]

WHY WOULD YOU BETRAY ME LIKE THIS, DONUTS?

Bakery

[heathencall]

[Mephisto is the resident buffoon when it comes to technology and not creating chaos with it but... This. This he can handle. He'd already used baking soda to clean up his own messes in alchemy -- he actually knows what he's doing here!

After removing Octokitten from his usual spot on Mephisto's good arm, he sprints up to both boy and fire. He throws open a handful of cabinets until he finds the baking soda and rips the lid off. He tosses the lot of it onto the fire and then turns to Steven.]

Cover it.

[holyspit]

[Oh thank god, today's carrier of The Braincell has arrived. Or thank whoever's appropriate, since. Mephisto.]

OKAY! OKAY!

[And. Doing that.]

It, uh. Didn't have instructions, so I just turned it to what looked like medium. ...How long should we leave it like this..?

[heathencall]

[Mephisto is only borrowing it from... honestly, who even knows who the keeper is at this point.

He breathes out when Steven covers it up, but they're not out of the woods yet.]

As long as it takes it to die down. Have you turned it off yet? I can't imagine we can remove it from heat so easily -- we'll have to wait for it to cool down on its own.

[holyspit]

Uh-

[Just gonna. Reach over quick and turn the knob all the way down, that's probably what deep fryers have right.]

Yes. Yes I did.

[heathencall]

[Mephisto manages to at least keep from sighing in exasperation outright. He does grunt a little though.]

Now all we can do is wait. Are you breathing alright?

[holyspit]

Yes? Yes.

[He takes a few slow, deliberate breaths to check. Seems okay?]

...I think? Now I'm just thinking about how I normally breath and I can't tell because I usually don't pay attention to it-

[heathencall]

... I'll keep an eye on you, then.

[He glances over at the mess they've made.]

It seems oddly reminiscent of our first weeks here, don't you think? When you tried to put out the fire I started.

[At this Mephisto's was intentional. But he won't bring that up.]

[holyspit]

Ha.

[It's a short-lived but at least genuine laugh.]

Full circle, huh. ...Well. I promise I'm not secretly a- I don't know, a corrupted Gem monster or anything. I don't even know how that would work for me.

[heathencall]

[He squints down at Steven, making a brief show of stroking his chin and appraising Steven.]

Yes I think I can trust that. There's certainly nothing to worry about here.

[What do you know, Mephisto's laughing too.]

[holyspit]

Heh- the horns would probably give it away, for one thing.

[Wait, is that racist if you're talking to a demon?]

[heathencall]

[If it is, Mephisto has a dark sense of humor as he's laughing too.]

So. I should look for... horns then, at the first sign of trouble? Anything else? A tail?

[holyspit]

Horns, tail, uh- mindlessly attacking everything and everyone.

[Hm. Seems less funny now.]

...at least it'd be pretty obvious?

[heathencall]

[Well that's... a lot.]

Is there any way to stop it?

1/2

[holyspit]

Poof and bubble the Gem to stop them from hurting anyone. ...we kind of came close to fixing one of them, once. But it didn't last.

[Can I get an F in chat for Centipeedle.]

Oh, I. Don't think it can actually happen to me, though. I'd have to try fusing with a Gem that was already corrupted, or something.

2/2

[holyspit]

OH HEY, I think it's cool enough by now, think it's safe to check?

[heathencall]

[F]

You're probably right.

[Since Mephisto is already permanently busted up, he'll go ahead and reach for the cookie sheet. Look at him, protecting people.]

[holyspit]

[Steven quickly tugs on a pair of large oven mitts and takes a defensive stance. He will block any flames that come fireballing out, clearly.]

[heathencall]

[A large fireball comes rushing out and -- Yeah. no. It's just a big plume of smoke.]

At least we've managed to keep from burning the opera house down?

[holyspit]

...You think if we did the Phantom would have to call everything off?

[Steven. No.]

Not- that I'm actually suggesting that. ...That's a plan B or C, at least.

[heathencall]

More likely that he would find a way to stop the fire only after it killed a number of us, and then require an investigation.

[Just kinda. Rolls his eyes.]

Games upon games.