itscurtains | week 5

[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. ))

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[Why does he look so guilty? He wasn't to blame either. He did some bad things. It was in the past. She already told herself, she can't get mad about it, especially with that staticky figure over her shoulder. She shakes her head, as stubborn as ever.]

It did have to do with me. I'm the one who tried to get answers out of you. That must have been what got Stephen's attention. And then I had to say those awful things, and the SQUIP made me act...

[Wrong. It was wrong. Just say it was wrong.]

Different than how I usually am. I understand why it hurt you. Even if I wanted to avoid hurting you ever again. I...

[And she knows even more clearly that she shouldn't say this, and her throat closes around the words, but somehow, she still forces them out with a sob.]

I don't want to end up being another Riley to you.

[There's so much to worry about here. The fact that she brings up the SQUIP, like it's chattering away in her head like Jeremy's had. Maybe now he understands her desperation from before -- he'd gladly give his life to free her.

He'll bring it up later. He'll bring up the fight with Stephen later too. Right now, there's something far more important.]

Christine. [How many times has he said her name now. It's starting to sound like it isn't a name at all. He's losing her, or maybe he's just losing himself.] I need you to understand something.

[His hands trembling as he cups both of her cheeks. It's a light hold, enough for her to pull away if she needs.]

You won't be another Riley. And not just because I won't let you leave me. [He pushes her chin up just a little, just enough to meet his eyes.] You are spontaneous where she was meticulous. Heart on your sleeve where hers was carefully tucked away. The silly little girl who cried on my shoulder about friends she didn't knew, not knowing she was charming a demon in the process.

She was my Riley. You are my Christine.

[It can all be discussed later. Of course, she doesn't want to, doesn't want to be forced to spill every secret she's bothered to keep since she arrived here, even those very few ones she's managed to maintain, but she doesn't have a choice, not when Mephisto is looking at her like that.

She feels lost in his gaze, in his gentle tone, but maybe that's just the fog of sickness in her head. She doesn't pull away, but she shivers a bit, and she doesn't know whether it's from fever or fear.

Or from those words, those kind, kind words... Her eyes remain locked on his, even as she feels them welling up.]

I won't leave you. Or hide from you. I promise that. I promised we were going to work together to get out, and... and that's the one thing that's been keeping me going some days.

You may be a demon, but you're... you're my savior. My Mephisto.

[Her hands reach out to grip his wrists, tightly, as if frightened he may fly out of her grip.]

Please... please don't leave me either. Don't go where I can't follow.

[Mephisto opens his hands to hold hers, but stops short as she takes hold of his wrists. Even now, she feels so small compared to him, far more fragile than the rest of the human lives he's come to treasure. He'd written once that if Riley could be eaten alive by this place, then Christine had one foot in the mouth already.

It's truer than ever, now, and that fills him with terror.]

We've saved one another, then. [Maybe not wholly, they're still here after all, and Mephisto doubts that these few weeks of kindness make up for what he's done for centuries in the grand scheme. Right now, though, in this moment, it's true enough.]

I won't go anywhere, Christine. I promise.

[She feels so small in comparison to him. She had tried so hard to be strong, a warrior and protector... but Riley was gone, and everyone was sick, and as much as Mephisto saw something in her, she was becoming acutely aware that she was depressingly normal.

This place could swallow her whole at any moment, and it's only Mephisto's promise that's been her rescue. She nods, slowly, biting down on her lip.]

Good. Good. If you're gone, I... I'd just be lost. Everything around here is spinning so fast, and, and I can't make it stop, not without you.

[She hates that she has to ask so much of him, but she knows she doesn't have a choice. She looks up at him, suddenly more focused than she's ever been.]

I need you to hold me steady. When I tried to go over the fence, Santana said I needed an anchor, so I didn't spin out and get dizzy. Can... Can you be my anchor?

Then I won't go anywhere. Wherever your light is, I'll be there to help it shine all the more. [He frees his hands, shaking as he does, and reaches out. He cups her cheek, thumb smoothing over the skin there. His chest aches, and not just from the coughing and the muscle soreness. What he's seeing here... None of it is fair.]

I will hold you down, as long as you hold me down. [His hands slide back, pulling her tighter to him.]

You are the light that is blinding me
You're the anchor that I tie to my brain
'Cause when it feels when I'm lost at sea
You're the song that I sing again and again
All the time, all the time
I think of you all the time

You're the one who's my light. We can help light the way for each other, right?

[She doesn't have much to her, but... but if he believes in her, then she can be around for him, pushing him to go a little further, until they are no longer sick, until they're free.

Her voice is hoarse and aching, and her arms are weak, but she hugs him and sings along with them, trying to keep them both sinking against gravity.]

Let the sorrows end when we lose our friends
'Cause you cut through all the noise
Let the days roll on 'till the static comes
'Cause you cut through all the noise
Bring me some hope
By wandering into my mind
Something to hold onto
In this dark, eternal night

week 5

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