[After...party?] I would give anything, but for the grace of God I'm here and still aware

[madgiganticfeelings]

[So that... certainly happened. Christine ran along with everyone else to escape the suffocating smoke, slamming the doors behind them in the hope it would slow the flames down. She tries not to see sticky beer-stained carpet as she runs, tries to hear the voices of her newfound friends, rather than the screams of teenagers, but it's certainly difficult.

She only stops to hastily throw open the door to Steven's room and let out Lion with them, but otherwise retreats into the gardens before... letting herself watch the opera house in silence.

Thankfully, it doesn't end with as much damage as the last fire Christine experienced. In time, she can stop shaking and unfold the note still clenched in her hand. And then she looks back at the opera house with... a different kind of fear on her face.

A fear so deep that when Mephisto and Anne finally start suggesting the possibility of returning inside, she's up on her feet in an instant.]

Meeting in the woman's first floor washroom. Give me ten minutes and I'll be there.

[Before anyone can argue with her, she runs off, hoping she sounded firm enough for them to follow her request.

She and Lion move to Stephen's room first to acquire whatever notes might still be there, but she's returns to the bathroom soon enough, all the papers now collected in her binder.]

Okay. We're probably freaked out. God knows I still am. And I want to encourage you to leave when you need to, take a break if this all gets to be too much. But I think... I think I speak for everyone- [Finally, finally she can speak for everyone. Her voice is strong enough now.] - when I say this.

[Her knuckles go white around her binder and her eyes spark back to life.]

We are not letting that fucking Wizard win anymore. So let's talk time loops.

Comments

[heathencall]

[Once the crowd outside has dispersed, Mephisto allows himself a moment. That moment is spent railing against an empty grave, furiously pounding his fists against the stone until the knuckles are cracked and bleeding. He can't wait long enough for Stephen's grave to properly oriented.

His path of destruction continues through the halls and into his room. Here, he throws aside anything he can get his hands on. The keychain, the second one he'd gotten after handing the first over to Stephen, is thrown to the ground. He considers stomping it, but instead stops short and kicks it under his bed.

His eyes burn. His heart aches. He feels like such a fool.

... 30 minutes after Christine's order, Mephisto shows up in the women's room. His hands have been hastily bandaged (it's a parallel that he's trying not to think about). He lingers by the door, not sure if he should even stay.]

[likemypicture]

[Anne's willing to give him a pass to the 'don't leave me alone with more than two teenagers at a time' rule to go do that-- but he's not getting off that easy once he enters the women's room. She waves him in, patting the bathroom floor beside her.]

[heathencall]

[He glances toward her and gives a half-nod. Acknowledgment of their own deal, but little more. He's definitely not moving toward her.]

[madgiganticfeelings]

[The meeting's casual enough, and she knows they certainly can't solve all of this tonight, when all of their wounds are still fresh, so she at least is just waiting, reading things over, as she waits for Mephisto to arrive.

She's not sure whether to approach him or not, but she... remembers her letter, and so she moves over to his side. Her hands move to take his bandaged ones.]

...Let me know when you need these changed. I'll help you.

[She doesn't ask where they're from.]

[heathencall]

[Mephisto eases away from her touch -- not an outright flinch, but he's certainly not interested in the contact. He shifts so that they're tucked away, out of sight out of mind.]

I'll be fine.

[madgiganticfeelings]

You're still allowed to not be fine, once in a while.

[She hopes that doesn't come out sounding terse. She does move her hands slowly back away, folding them back into her own cloak for warmth.]

But... I trust you.

[She settles back against the wall, but she knows Mephisto understands what she means by that. She's trusted in him for all of this to be honest with her. Their very first promise had been for there to be no more lies between them. If he's willing to break that now...]

[likemypicture]

Uggggggggh. [Anne finally collapses backward, onto the bathroom floor, Tad Cooper on her chest.]

Christine, I agree with you, ja, but I'm so sick of that kind of talk. I just want to sleep for three days, and then worry about this.

[madgiganticfeelings]

We don't-

[She's about to say they don't have the time, but... hell, if anything, Stephen had just proven they had all the time in the world if they were willing to die for it.]

... Fine. Whatever. Just talk to me when you're ready to listen.

[likemypicture]

[Anne allows herself a few more minutes of childish sulking on the floor, even briefly closing her eyes-- then she sighs, and sits up again, rubbing her eyes with her hands.]

Fine. Let's talk time loops. I don't.... understand them. I'm just a woman. I thought I lived my life with simple greatness, through my social position, handed to me by men of power. The most extraordinary thing that happened to me happened after I died, when God gave me a second chance at life, to tell my story--- [She rubs at her eyes again. She's too old for this. She's tired.] -- the story I only held because I was remembered for being married to the same man as five other women. And I thought that was extraordinary enough, but now we're here, and people are time traveling and murdering and--- [She takes a breath to steady herself. She settles her expression into something determined. She will be strong, for all of them. She stands up, stretches, and leans against a wall.]

So I don't know that I have much that will help here. But I'll listen to anything anyone else has.

[madgiganticfeelings]

[When everyone is gathered, Christine does speak up once more, but even she sounds tired.]

Stephen brought everyone letters. If you'd like yours, just ask. I... I made sure not to read any of them once I saw who they were for.

[She might have... peeked at Mephisto's, but only to make sure it wouldn't cause the demon to suffer even more.]

And if anyone feels up to it... I have this paper Stephen slipped to me during the trial. I think it's the information he's found out on who planned this, through all the loops. I think we should try to form a plan of action with it.

[With that said, she sits back down on the floor, head bowed down, focused back down on her binders. She reads her letter and the information over and over, one piece of scrap paper ripped out and her hand twitching as she scratches out her own notes on what she can read.

...Later into the night, the notes trail off into nothing but a dozen of looping infinity symbols, as Christine's head bows deeper, deeper... and then snaps up again. Someone should... probably take her gel pens away.]

[heathencall]

[This is. The last thing he needed tbh!

He'll spend a few minutes, yes minutes, reading and re-reading the letters. His throat feels tight. He feels that sensation of falling once more.

He lifts his gaze, looking to Anne. There's a moment of apology in his gaze.

And then he leaves the room. Or at least tries.]

[likemypicture]

[She glances up at him. Her mouth twists in unamusement. And then, she looks back down at her letter, pretending not to see. Christine's gone after him, and she looks up-- then she'll speak to the rest of the room-- ]

Thirty minutes, then I go get them.

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Yeah, no way. He may leave the room, but much as he had for her, she becomes his shadow, following after silently. She takes her letter with her as well, just... just in case. It feels like too much pressure to let the others see that.

Of course, she's risking Mephisto seeing it now, but that's fine. She doesn't even know if he's planning on turning around.]

[heathencall]

[He glances behind him as he's entering his room, and only accidentally. His eyes narrow as they settle on her, but it's more to focus than an actual glare. His vision is blurring, Burning for some reason and he can hardly see through any of it.]

Go. Not right now, Christine. Just go.

[likemypicture]

[As promised, Anne gives Christine and Mephisto thirty minutes before she rises to her feet, promising the rest of the group she'll be back shortly.

She knocks on his door, but doesn't wait for a response to invite herself in, a slight smile on her face.] Hi.

Christine, can I have a few minutes with him? I'll meet you after. [Sorry Mephisto, she's not... asking you.]

[heathencall]

[One fear.]

[garbageface]

[ Santana has been quiet since exiting the trial — all her adrenaline is gone now, leaving her hollow and numb. She’ll go where she’s led, staring vacantly into space until Christine starts the meeting. At the mention of letters, Santana seems to regain a little awareness, a little more sharpness. This is a task. Throwing herself into a task is good. It might help lessen the sting.

She walks over to take her letter, then sits next to Christine. In a voice that’s hoarse from all her screaming: ]

What does the paper say? The one he slipped you.

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Oh, thank god. Christine could cry with relief to have someone here by her side, but she manages to hold it back with a sharp bite to the inside of her cheek. She passes over the more messy note, and points out what she thinks she can recognize already.]

The first time Stephen went back... maybe a-all the times, we died by hanging. Stephen was congratulated for winning, and he met the Wizard, who he can't seem to remember, even though he remembers everything else. He got some information about... all of this, which he lists down here.

[She points at the little group of circles next.]

These I haven't quite figured out, but I know "J + C" is Jeremy and me.

[garbageface]

[ Santana stares at the note for a long time, trying her best to focus, to actually parse the thing. She stares at the circles, at the J + C. She knows Stephen is a nerd, so maybe...

Santana sighs, and passes the paper back to Christine. ]

He was, like, an astrologer or something. So those — might be planets? The “R” could be for Riley.

[likemypicture]

[Anne takes her letter, tucking herself back against the wall, and grumbling to herself at the beginning of the reading.]

Right about that, idiot... [But then she's reading the rest, and her throat and stomach have twisted themselves into knots. Even after Mephisto, and then Christine make their exits, she has to stay-- to be strong, the same way Stephen asked her to be in her letter. She's had to be strong her entire life-- as a child, being raised by a strict, religious mother, when her sister left them, when her engagement had been broken off. She had to be strong when she was chosen to be Queen of a country whose language she did not speak, immediately after her father had died, and had to travel far to meet him-- only to be dismissed due to her looks. Had to be strong when he asked for a divorce, so she wouldn't die, then again when her mother died, and she couldn't return home. She had to be strong as her nieces and nephews were born and raised a whole sea away, had to be strong when Henry died and she still wasn't permitted to go home, as members of her household betrayed her, as members of court conspired against her and tried to have her killed. Even when she died of cancer, in her home, alone except for a few devoted servants-- she had to be strong, negotiating new jobs for her staff and executing her will. She's sick of being strong.

But she'll do it. She's Queen Anna von Kleve, regardless of her connection to men. She moves onto Stephen's notes-- rolling her eyes at different parts]

I can't believe I avoided execution for twenty years, only to-- Ugh! And this fucker has the gal to say he wanted to be a father!

[musacal]

[ She's here, after changing out of her pjs and into her Stage Girl uniform and now she's got her swords after a detour to Stephen's room (it's now almost habit for her, to check people's rooms after they die...) as well as the cellphone they use to contact Chewie. She'll text him soon but... she has something important to talk to everyone about. Namely about some of her behavior at the trial, especially the end of it. ]

I... talked with the Phantom yesterday. Through notes but...

We talked about his patron. A lot actually.

[madgiganticfeelings]

That's amazing, Banana.

[It's something for her to compare notes against, which means Christine is jumping at the chance. She smooths the folds on Stephen's notes and pats the spot beside her.]

What did you learn from him?

[musacal]

Um, well...

[ It was a lot but she'll attempt to summarize and also share her notes later with anyone who wants to see them. ]

First off, it was him that did those things I talked about last meeting. The... birthday note and all. Any time you got a note where the Phantom's handwriting was off it was likely him.

Apparently he likes me, which was why he did those things. The Phantom said that he thinks his concern for me might be genuine to some extent, but not enough to "spare my life". Which... I guess now that we know what Dr. Browning did, makes a lot more sense now...

...Speaking of, apparently he also regretted this week's motive? Since the Phantom said that to me I thought it might have been because of how I acted afterwards but um... again, given what we know now...

[ welp ]

TEXTING TIME

[musacal]

[ Once she’s shared most of the things she’s meant to she finds a spot to sit and starts texting Chewie. ]

Hi. It’s Nana again.
We lost two more people today.
Including Steven.
So it might be just me texting you for a while.

[stagemanagers]

uh ok wtf???????

what HAPPENS with you people on weekends?