once more with feeling [act 3]

[stagemanagers]

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.

Comments

[mayavericks]

[Maya wakes in the dormitory abruptly. Something doesn't feel right, a gut suspicion that's immediately proven to be true by the fact that she is not alone. One of the many perks of her arrangements at Seisho had been her private room, after all.

She swipes the lamp off the table, holding it like a weapon. She reaches out to one of the men sleeping in the bed and. Nudges them.]

Wake up. Now. I want to know why you brought me here.


[Once all the kerfuffle has died down in the dorm, Maya finds herself backing into the hallway. Despite her earlier behavior, she's at least managed to compose herself enough to not look entirely out of place. It's clear that at least her dorm has no idea what's going on, which... ultimately means that someone needs to take charge.]

You. What is your name. When did you come here?

[That take charge doesn't fade the longer the day wears on without answers. Maya eventually drags a chair out of the cafeteria and sets it up in the hall beside the restrooms. She has one of the yearbooks in her hands -- when someone isn't around (or at least when she doesn't notice them), she seems to be writing frantic notes about her surroundings. When someone is, however --]

Your name. What is it?

Hallway

[whatyouwant]

[Completely ignoring the abrupt manner in which the questions were asked, Elle fixes Maya with a beaming grin.]

Not sure when I got here, I just woke up like 20 minutes ago. I'm Elle Woods, by the way.

[She sticks out her hand for a shake.]

[mayavericks]

Woods-san.

[Maya nods, flipping through the yearbook pages until she spots the blonde. She reads through the information, before putting an 'X' over Elle's head.]

Thank you.

[The hand is... either ignored or not noticed.]

[whatyouwant]

[If she's confused by the honorific, she doesn't let it show.]

Oh, you can just call me Elle. I don't think I caught your name, though.

[mayavericks]

Ah. [For a moment, she almost looks embarrassed. Almost.]

It is Tendo Maya. [Her brows furrow a little as she looks Elle up and down.] Maya Tendo, that is.

Hallway

[mcfife]

[Angus freezes when he exits his dorm, stopped by a young woman in a similar uniform. She probably belongs here.

He holds a fist over his heart.] Angus McFife the thirteenth, prince of the Kingdom of Fife, milady. I don't know how long I have been asleep here, but my best guess is that I was brought to this school today.

[mayavericks]

Today.

[That's another person added to this pile of circumstance. She steps aside to let Angus leave, at least.]

Thank you, McFife-san. Be careful, we know not what dangers lurk in this place.

[mcfife]

[The disappointment is clear on his face.]

So, you have no answers, either...

[What a terrible turn of events. Once again, trapped in a new land with no idea of what's happening.]

And your name? How may I call you?

[mayavericks]

I am afraid I am just as out of place as you are. [She nods to his uniform.]

My name is Maya Tendo.

[wanderlusttitania]

[She is at the door at the end of the dormitory hallway.]

Ah-I just-

[She's trying to open the door.]

woke--AH-

[Aaaaand she fails.

She falls backwards on her back, wincing at the pain and looking up at Maya.]

...it really isn't working. It's...not opening.

[Disappoint.


...wait

She sits up, clearing uncomfortable in her clothing as she awkwardly sits.]

Forgive me, mademoiselle. I...I was trying to leave.

[mayavericks]

[You know, Maya has been pretty much all business up until this point. But an older woman who seems quite unhealthy falling over is... concerning.

She kneels down beside the woman, placing a hand against her back and checking for any injuries.]

I've not discovered a way out yet, I'm afraid.

[wanderlusttitania]

[Her shoulders sag at this.

She doesn't seem to be injured, at least.]

I see...then you've checked the other doors?

[mayavericks]

Not all of them. But enough to tell me that trying any more would be a waste of my time.

[She stands up, and then holds her hand down for the woman to take.]

beside the restrooms

[barberic]

Why on earth did you choose to sit here? Surely there are more sanitary places to set up shop, my dear.

[mayavericks]

[Maya glances up at the man, then down at her yearbook. She flips through the pages idly as she speaks.]

It is a choke point. Anyone looking to go further into this place will have to pass by here. And I will see them coming from a distance -- [She puts her finger next to his picture.] Barker-san.

[barberic]

[He hasn't glanced at the yearbook himself, but he'll concede that he stands out a little.]

"Barkers-on?" What does that mean?

restrooms

[comeandfindme]

[ With another futile attempt to glean something by looking out the windows, Peregrine yanks a curtain closed with disgust. She frowns at Maya, though. Frowning may just be her default state. ]

Yours first. If you're the one asking.

[mayavericks]

[She offers a thin smile. Politeness without feeling.]

Maya Tendo. [Her brows lift expectantly.] And you?

[comeandfindme]

[ Easy enough. Peregrine doesn't smile back, but she doesn't appear rude, just serious, and slightly probing. ]

Peregrine Wells.

dormitory

[yourattention]

[Uh. Okay. That's definitely not what he expected to see when he woke up. Well. Frankly speaking, he didn't expect to wake up in the first place so this is doubly weird for him honestly. He ignores her for a second, touching the bed like he's afraid it won't be there when he does. Then:]

Me? I don't even know who the fuck you are.

[mayavericks]

Do not lie to me. I have the upper-hand here.

[She gives her lamp a little shake for emphasis. Oooh, scary!]

[yourattention]

Why the fuck would that be a lie? I'm crazy, but not "kidnap people and force them all to relive high school" crazy. I wouldn't wish high school on my worst enemy.

[He's not intimidated by the lamp, but mainly because he will in fact just let her hit him with it and not fight back. Fighting back is an entirely foreign concept to Connor Murphy.]

Hallway

[sugarlumps]

Uh, rude? What's YOUR name?

[who the frick doesn't know the princess of lumpy space]

[losers, that's who]

[mayavericks]

[Maya straightens up. Right, she needs to get her head on straight.]

Tendo Maya. Second year at Seisho Music Academy. I am... trying to figure out what is going on here.

[sugarlumps]

We've been kidnapped? That's pretty obvious, it happens.