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

[37773972]

I...

[...and Stephen looks down before reaching to turn off the water]

...I'm sorry. It's been a rough week.

[heathencall]

[It has. Stephen doesn't need Mephisto to agree with him for them both to know that.]

We'll get -- [But there's a horrible feeling in his throat, and he can't finish the sentence. He tries something smaller.]

I'm here.

[37773972]

[Small as it is, it means a lot more than Mephisto might have thought. Stephen looks back again, and this time, meets Mephisto's gaze with his own. Something is searching, there, not so much suspicious as seeking something

which he seems to find, and he nods.]

So'm I. [The ghost of a smile. Thanks to you] You need any help with...? [He tilts his head towards the wing]

[heathencall]

[Mephisto is quick to shake his head. His skin still feels hot but... it's gotten better. He'll get through it, he's sure.

... Though after a second of thought, he pulls Stephen in for a short embrace. Barely long enough to count, but still a hell of a lot more intimate than usual considering their current clothing status.]

[37773972]

[Intimate, yes, but- it's something Stephen doesn't hesitate to return, even if he is a little slow. And he certainly gives a bit of a squeeze, murmuring to reassure himself as much as Mephisto-]

Hey. I'm not going anywhere for long, with you to help me.

[heathencall]

[He doesn't intend to say anything. He hopes to smile through, stalwart as ever, uncrippled by whatever twisting knives he's feeling in his gut.

That's what he intends. But the words tumble out all the same.]

You will disappear, just like the rest of them.

[37773972]

Then keep me.

[He speaks without thinking- but it's something that's been fluttering in his thoughts for some time.]

[heathencall]

[He wants to stop. Why can't stop]

I can't. I have tried with Red. With Riley. I am not meant to keep things.

[37773972]

Did you make deals with them, too?

[No, theirs isn't for his soul, but- it's a lifeline. A desperate thought.

Am I so desperate...

Fingers dig in to Mephisto's skin, briefly, before the pain of it on Stephen's end has him suck in a breath and pull them away]

[heathencall]

I promised her. [It's sharp. It's angry. It's defiant.]

If I fall, you'll catch me, she asked. I said I would. I did not. [His words are sharp, and hissed through clenched teeth.] You aren't special. Our deal is not special. You are not immune to whatever wrath lays dormant here.

[37773972]

[There's being called a fool, and then there's this. It's not the fact that he's being reminded he's not special - he knows that - but it's how forceful Mephisto is about it. How angry he is.

Stephen pulls away, wanting to say something, but instead what comes out is-]

I've already accepted I'm going to die.

[heathencall]

So have I.

[Despite this, he clenches Stephen's shoulders all the tighter. He will die. They will die. He knows it to be true, even as he tries to stand strong for those remaining. They've been here five weeks. Nothing has changed.

He knows it's true, but that doesn't mean he doesn't wish it wasn't.]

[37773972]

[Mortality. Not just that, though; the understanding that he couldn't bring himself to kill anyone here. At first, he thought someone like Angus would kill him, but now? Now, he could survive, maybe, but-

He shoves the thought away, and takes a shuddering breath.]

What happens to the souls you take, Mephisto? The ones you deal for.

[heathencall]

Hell. Eternal Damnation. The usual biblical mess.

[Which... brings something to mind. His deal, the seizing of Ariel's soul. How something still feels wrong.]

Why?

[37773972]

But are they yours, there? To decide what happens?

[heathencall]

No. I've never been to Hell. I don't plan on it, either. It's a one way trip, from what I've heard.

[37773972]

[Stephen seems to deflate at that. Perhaps he was hoping for something more- perhaps he was deceiving himself. But all told...]

...between that and a god who'd gamble souls, I don't know what's worse.

[heathencall]

If you're hoping for comfort, I have none to give.

[This is his life, man!]

[37773972]

No? [Something bubbles up, but- doesn't last long.] No, you wouldn't. You didn't even give a shit about us until Sigyn.

[It sounds more tired than angry]

[heathencall]

[He tightens his jaw.]

That isn't true. The seeds were planted before her. Christine asking for purpose. Riley breaking down in front of me. You confessing the death of your wife and child.

I was learning just how pitiful you were before Sigyn died. She was just the reminder that I could fight back against it.

[37773972]

Yeah? 'Cause you told me that was only because you were planning on using us.

[heathencall]

I have always been a liar, Stephen.

So why do you bother?

[37773972]

Because I have to believe in something, Mephisto! Even if it's in someone I shouldn't!

[That was. A little more emotional than he thought it'd be.]

[heathencall]

[That... smarts. Just a little. And the problem is that Mephisto is very close to saying something about it too.

But if he can't shut himself up, he'll remove himself from the picture. The water's done what it can -- he'll turn the water of his own shower off and grab his towel. He only bothers to wrap it around his waist before making for the door. Fuck your floor, Phantom, enjoy the wet spots.]

[37773972]

[And Stephen promptly turns to slam his fist against the wall. The shout is as much from frustration as actual pain- but there's another pain there, too.

Fuck this.]