stagemanagers: (Default)
It's Curtains Mods ([personal profile] stagemanagers) wrote in [community profile] itscurtains2021-05-30 12:40 am
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once more with feeling [act 3]

You awake in an unfamiliar bed.

It’s comfortable enough, sure, but it’s certainly not yours. The room, too, is unfamiliar, especially in such heavy darkness. There seems to have been a great effort put into making it a livable space, with fuzzy rugs laid over linoleum, beds arranged as best to fit (and one bunk bed per dorm, rip whoever has the bottom bunk), and a single desk. You've also got individually labelled trunks; if you look inside yours, you'll find a yearbook with mostly blank pages, as well as a few with some interesting information. But even with all these changes it’s clear this room started it’s life as a classroom, every window hidden behind heavy dark green curtains.

To add to the strangeness of it all, your clothes have been swapped for some kind of uniform. It, though fitting your body perfectly, might feel a bit odd to some of you, as the body you have isn’t quite the same as it was before you mysteriously fell unconscious. The other important thing to note is the people in the other beds around you, all wearing the same color-coded uniform.

The hallway outside the dorms is narrow but well-lit, with fresh white walls and some scattered posters advertising some kind of midweek club meeting. The hallway goes on until, for the more contemporary of you, the pieces start to fall together as to your location: a school. Once you leave your rooms you’re free to wander as you wish but pinned up on a corkboard just outside the cafeteria there’s framed information that you might find helpful. If you explore further into the other rooms, in fact, you'll see there's an identical copy outside all of them.

In the lobby there are linoleum floors and fluorescent lighting, and a pair of glass doors that appear to lead outside. You can see out of both of them that the sun is shining brightly and there’s definitely more to see in the distance but the glass is unbreakable; you can't get out that way right now. A rolling metal sheet blocks off the hallway to the west. For the moment, both doors leading outside are locked.

It looks like you’re stuck. But hey - at least you aren’t alone.
mcfife: AMAZEMENT (☀️I will soar)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-03 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
Then we break down that door. No wizard would seal off the door their study as tightly as the one to freedom.

[He picks up his weight and swings it around for practice.]
comeandfindme: (burst out!)

[personal profile] comeandfindme 2021-06-03 06:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ Peregrine steels herself. ]

Right behind you.
mcfife: (🔪 Carrying the breath of fire)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-03 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[This is more like it. Angus takes a hard swing at the door.

As with the window, the weight bounces off the wood without making a dent, and Angus is thrown off balance.]


This as well?! How much magic is holding this school together?!
comeandfindme: (sprint!)

[personal profile] comeandfindme 2021-06-03 06:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Peregrine's mouth drops open. ]

It really is magic... [ What in the world...is going on here? ]
mcfife: (🔪 set the universe on fire)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-04 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
[He lets the weight drop to the floor. It is useless.]

There must be a key to undoing this. There must be. [He swivels to face Peregrine.] What do you know of magic? What could break the spell of protection?
comeandfindme: (burst out!)

[personal profile] comeandfindme 2021-06-05 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ Realizing she's been misunderstood, Peregrine frankly shakes her head, still in a state of shock. ]

Magic isn't real— at least- it's never been real before.
mcfife: (🔪 the universe on fire)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-05 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
[The wheels of Angus' mind come to a halt. The basic assumption, no, knowing that magic is a constant force in the universe. All organizations worth their salt has wizards on staff. Of course the door and windows were protected by powerful magic. What else could it be?]

Before what? What do you mean? [He steps closer, worried.] Why wouldn't it be real?!
comeandfindme: (i'm- i'm climbing)

[personal profile] comeandfindme 2021-06-06 05:15 am (UTC)(link)
[ Peregrine, in response, takes a step back. ]

'Cause it's not! Before— any of this, I've never seen anything like this before!
mcfife: (🦄 to take back the crystalline throne)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-06 03:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Have you not seen a wizard in your town before? Does your king ban magic?

[Not asking about Zargothrax because if she'd know magic was real if she'd heard of him. And what if she's like Maya and comes from a different universe?]
comeandfindme: (take every weakness down to the floor)

[personal profile] comeandfindme 2021-06-06 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ More forcefully: ] There aren't wizards! Or magic! Or...kings! I live in freaking Minnesota!
mcfife: thoughtful (☀️to realms beyond space)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-06 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
...I was not aware that Minnesota had no kings. [Angus has no clue if that's the same Minnesota from his time or another place entirely, but still. That's so odd.]

What is it about Minnesota that prevents such things?
comeandfindme: (push into the fear until it shatters)

[personal profile] comeandfindme 2021-06-06 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Starting to get frustrated, Peregrine's voice raises. ] Oh my— Nowhere has kings anymore! Stop joking around, okay?!
mcfife: concern (☀️clouds beneath)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-06 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Why would I lie about such things? You have seen how these windows and door were enchanted, did you not?
comeandfindme: (take every weakness down to the floor)

[personal profile] comeandfindme 2021-06-07 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, but that's not normal! This isn't normal, none of this is normal!
mcfife: (🦄 of an ancient and powerful wizard)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-07 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Being kidnapped while asleep is far from normal, I will not disagree with that. Someone using magic to trap us is to be expected.

[What cruel world has hidden magic from this girl?]

Minnesota, that's where you're from. There might be someone odd about your own homeland.
comeandfindme: (🌲 i'm climbing up every wall)

[personal profile] comeandfindme 2021-06-07 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ They're going in circles. Peregrine huffs and spits out: ]

There's something odd about someone's homeland.

[ And it sure isn't hers. ]
mcfife: (🦄 of an ancient and powerful wizard)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-08 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Please, it's hers. Angus grunts and wipes his brown. So many confusing revelations in such a short amount of time!]

Regardless, we cannot simply break down the walls to escape. It's time to fight magic with magic.
comeandfindme: (🌲 shatter it all)

[personal profile] comeandfindme 2021-06-08 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Alright, wise guy, you got any magic to fight with?
mcfife: thoughtful (☀️to realms beyond space)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-08 07:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't have magic. I'm no wizard. But my Hammer of Glory should have the power to destroy the defenses.

...That is, if we are still in the same universe I came from.
comeandfindme: (sprint!)

[personal profile] comeandfindme 2021-06-08 08:27 pm (UTC)(link)
...Right. Of course.

[ Different universes? Peregrine feels like she needs to sit down. Just to get a handle on anything, anything at all. ]