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.
alchemistake: (Scandium)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-05-30 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's not an incorrect statement to make. Alchemy is a lot like magic in a lot of ways, even if Varian is loathe to admit that...]

I've...seen magic. I've seen what it can do. So I at least get the comparison...I just wish people wouldn't assume it's the cause of everything, you know? There's always some kind of explanation.

[He's one of those types.]

Who knows. Honestly at this rate, they could all just be making fun of us. I can't imagine anyone who would bring us here unwilling would be doing it for our own good.
mcfife: (🦄 the land that I once called my home)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-05-31 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
But is magic not part of everything? You manipulate chemicals, which is a form wizardry.

[As everyone knows, science and magic are interchangeable concepts.]

They're likely making up a few things about us. The rest of my profile is correct, but they were probably stuck with that one part. It's not like they know every detail of our histories.
alchemistake: (Xenon)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-05-31 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I mean....I guess, if you want to put it that way.

[But that doesn't mean he has to like it.]

You're telling me. I wish they knew even less. Some of it is reaching, sure, but...there's definitely truth there too. I mean, it's not like I gave anybody here my name, or my height or anything like that! And how did they even get that picture?
mcfife: (🔪 set the universe on fire)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-05-31 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I had initially believed I was in a hospital, which would have access to our medical records. However... [He crosses his arms.] The question is who gave it to them. Are you well known in your land?
alchemistake: (Scandium)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-05-31 08:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Varian scoffs.]

Wow, I wish. I mean...I guess the Princess did somehow get wind of me, but...I'm not like, famous or influental or anything like that. I'm an inventor, so I make stuff? But it doesn't get very far past the walls of my lab most of the time.

[And what does isn't always...stable, or well received.]

But no, yeah, last I checked there's not really any...records on me? At least, I hope I'd know about them if there were.
mcfife: concern (☀️clouds beneath)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-05-31 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
An inventor is a someone many would remember. There has to be a reason why you are here.

[If Varian were a nobody, he wouldn't be treated with any respect. Everyday peasants aren't captured by invading armies, after all.]

Who knows, perhaps they used magic.
alchemistake: (Curium)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-05-31 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[Magic...Varian presses a hand to the side of his face.]

I wonder if it could be someone from Corona. Not that I know who...but there's been some weird magic-stuff going on back home, too. It wouldn't surprise me, at this rate.
mcfife: concern (☀️clouds beneath)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-05-31 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Corona? Where is that?

[This first thought is of the sun, but that can't be right.]
alchemistake: (Erbium)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-06-01 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
It's a Kingdom. One of a few, but I've never actually been outside of it myself...I don't really live in the main part of the Kingdom, either. My home's a village in Old Corona, kindof...the poorer version.

[It's just said matter-of-factly.]
mcfife: thoughtful (☀️to realms beyond space)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-01 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I...see... [Is there an Old Fife? Is there a small section of the kingdom that has been forgotten? Are there realms that no longer belong under the McFife rule but used to be part of the kingdom?] I'm afraid I still don't know where that is. Perhaps it existed before my time.
alchemistake: (Argon)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-06-01 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm starting to believe that the more I hear from people, honestly...

[Like, time travel is...a concept that's not really bandied about much, but when you live in a world full of magic, it means it's potentially possible. It's just not something he's certain anyone has ever been brave enough to dabble in, until...well, now.]

Where are you from?
mcfife: heartfelt (☀️all that I've known here)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-02 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
The Kingdom of Fife. It lies in the northern realms of the planet, in the misty hills of the Caledonian Isle.

[Ah, his homeland. How he loves it when it's not dotted with massive statues of evil overlords and littered with the many corpses of unfortunate peasants.]
alchemistake: (Catalenium)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-06-02 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[CHARMING...]

Caledonian, huh...well, Corona itself is surrounded by water, but it sounds like it must be a different area entirely.

Kindof...a lot of trouble to bring us from completely different kingdoms like that, don't you think?
mcfife: concern (☀️clouds beneath)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-02 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
No, that would be a smart move. It's easy to strike once in each kingdom and leave before the guards arrive. A small kingdom would make an easy target. Fife was in disarray when I was last awake.
alchemistake: (Caesium)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-06-03 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
[That begs the question "why HIM", but Varian doesn't voice it. In comparison to royalty or anyone else someone might want to kidnap for whatever reason, he's not much more than a peasant.]

That would mean well over a dozen kingdoms struck...which is a lot, even for a planned effort. I mean, it makes sense if this is some sort of magic at work, but...I don't know.

Something about all of this doesn't feel like a normal kidnapping.
mcfife: thoughtful (☀️to realms beyond space)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-03 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
You are correct. Normally, we would be thrown into the deepest dungeons and frozen in ice to ensure we would not leave. This is farm better fare than we would provide to most guests at the palace.

[They have clothes, wonderful bedrooms, places to entertain themselves. The food isn't all that great.]

I don't understand their plans. Is this a plot to attack multiple kingdoms at once?
alchemistake: (Ruddigaron)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-06-03 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
It's really the only thing that makes sense.

[Assuming it's all Kingdoms they're after, which Varian isn't so sure about just yet. This is a decent running theory for the time being, without much else to go on.]

Maybe we're being held for some sort of ransom? Wouldn't make sense on my behalf, but there are probably others that would fit that bill.

[Elsa, LSP, Sissi...all various royalty.]

At least then I'd understand why they're trying to keep us- [He gestures with a hand.] -healthy.
mcfife: thoughtful (☀️to realms beyond space)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-04 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
They don't seek our deaths. They desire something in return for our safety. People would pay millions for the safety of their rulers or skilled workers.

[Varian is...not the most important alchemist in the kingdom, but he does know the princess. She would miss him.]
alchemistake: (Rhenium)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-06-04 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
So basically, we're just going to have to bide our time here until something happens.

[Varian sighs, running a hand down the side of his face.]

I can't say I like the sound of that.
mcfife: heroic (Now it's time to)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-04 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)
No. We can fight back. I refuse to be a helpless prisoner.

[He grips Varian's shoulder with the force of a man holding onto the one artifact that can save the world.]

There are worse places to be trapped. Much can be done when we unite our forces! [Angus, this isn't a rebel army.]
alchemistake: (Argon)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-06-05 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
[It isn't a rebel army, and yet...something about Angus's conviction is weirdly infectious. It's hard to feel all that defeatist in the face of it, at the very least.]

Well, I'm glad you feel that way, because so do I. There's no way I'm just going to stand around and do nothing. I'd be a poor excuse for an inventor if I did that.
mcfife: happy! (☀️far beyond the sky)

[personal profile] mcfife 2021-06-05 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
[A hearty nod.]

That's the spirit! Now, go forth and seek the answer to our problems!
alchemistake: (Default)

[personal profile] alchemistake 2021-06-05 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[Varian nods, his expression determined. This conversation was rather productive, surprisingly...it's lifted Varian's spirits and given him new drive, if nothing else, as he heads off to see if he can learn a bit more about some of the other people they're currently trapped with.]