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]

[At Salieri's rustling about, Maya grips the lamp all the tighter and points it more forcefully in his direction. There's plenty of room to hide a knife on his person, she's pretty certain of that.

But... No. Nothing comes out.]

Tendo Maya. I am a student at Seisho Music Academy, not this -- place.

[As both of the other (young) men don't seem to know what's going on, Maya allows herself to relax. She lowers the lamp down to her side.]

You are both just as out of place?

[alchemistake]

[Now that Varian has a chance to (sortof) regain his bearings, he's able to properly get a look at not only this room, but the people in it. They're complete strangers to him, and the room itself is, well...not designed in any way he's ever seen. He hasn't made the connection of it being a school, mainly because that isn't something he's ever been to.

But that can be processed more later. It's these two that Varian needs to worry about right now, reaching up to adjust his own clothes...only to realize he's missing his gloves, goggles, and vest.]

How...? Uh- yeah. This definitely isn't my lab.

[violentenvies]

Nor is this my study. [Now that there's not something pointed at him, Salieri will push himself to his feet, moving to straighten out what he is wearing...which is far more white than he prefers, and cannot help temporarily wrinkling his nose]

...well...Mademoiselle Maya and Monsieur, ah, Varian, was it?

[At least he was paying enough attention to grasp that--but he's turning most of his attention towards Maya.] It seems that whatever this place is, none of us are familiar with it.

[mayavericks]

We are all equally as out of place, then.

[Any one of them could be lying, of course. But for now... Maya can put the lamp back down on her desk and stare at the two of them.]

Salieri-san, you are from France, then? [A glance toward Varian.] And what of you Varian-san?

[alchemistake]

[Varian nods, though he's immediately realizing that he's not only been taken from home, he's been...completely displaced. It does not sound like where he's from and where Maya and Salieri are from line up with what he knows at all.]

I'm from Corona. Not the Kingdom itself...my village is called Old Corona. It's alongside the border wall.

[violentenvies]

Ah, no, I'm from Vienna. [not that you'd know it with the accent and the mademoiselles and monsieurs, but he's an Italian from a French rock opera set in Vienna. He can't help it.

He frowns a bit, though, as Varian explains]

I don't believe I've ever heard of the Kingdom of Corona, nor the village either. [he glances at Maya] Nor have I heard of your academy. Where did you say it was located?

[mayavericks]

Ah, my apologies, then.

[She bows her head slightly, mildly cowed by her incorrect assumption. Varian's own words do draw her curiosity, of course. She can't recall having heard of a "Kingdom of Corona." If anything, it sounds like something out of one of her plays.]

Seisho is located in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the best schools for stage actors in the country.

[alchemistake]

[He was worried that he'd say that...as much as it is difficult to comprehend someone not knowing about the Kingdom at least, with how large it is. That much he figures he's just going to have to accept for now, seeing as how he's never heard of Vienna nor Japan.]

We all must be pretty far apart, then...I haven't heard of either of those places before.

[Which begs the question-]

How...is that even possible?

[violentenvies]

[Japan...he's heard the name, of course, but the country is highly secluded and has been closed off to outsiders for a while. Corona still remains a mystery]

I can't rightly say. I would almost be tempted to call it a dream, however, the manner in which I was awakened speaks to the unlikelihood of that.

[that last part is a bit drawled, dry]

[mayavericks]

[Maya lifts her brows, almost amused.]

Do you mean being fallen on, or -- [She motions to the lamp.]

[alchemistake]

O-oh! Yeah, uh...I'm really sorry about. That.

[Varian takes that moment to glance back up at the bunk-bed, his nose wrinkling.]

I don't know who's idea it was to put me all the way up there, but I didn't realize I was so high off the ground until...well, you know.

[violentenvies]

[first, Salieri glances at Maya, unable to help the mild bit of sardonic amusement that seeps into his tone] To answer your question, both.

[As for Varian, well... it was an accident. And the apology is more than sincere, so it certainly wouldn't do to let the boy continue to feel embarrassed.] Apology accepted. I also cannot conceive of who would build beds this way. It seem dangerous and inconvenient. [he tilts his head slightly, giving Varian a quick glance-over]

I assume you are not hurt?

[mayavericks]

[While Salieri asks his questions, Maya steps over to give Varian a once over. She pats a few places on his shoulders and arms, checking for breaks or swelling. Without asking. Listen, she's used to just doing it at Seisho.]

[alchemistake]

Oh! Uhhh-

[Varian goes very still reflexively while Maya checks him over. He'd already been flushed from the impact of the fall and the embarrassment that went with that, but now it's reached the tips of his ears.

Fortunately, he seems to be in one piece. Maybe a little bruised, but honestly he's dealt with way worse.]

I'm fine, don't worry. When you've worked on the stuff I have, you don't sweat mishaps like this.

[It's a miracle he hasn't broken more bones in his life, honestly.]

I hope you guys are alright. Both...in the physical sense and otherwise, obviously. I know we sortof got off on the wrong foot, but I think it's safe to say we're in the same boat, right?

[violentenvies]

[Salieri observes as Maya gives Varian a quick check to make sure he's okay, noting it mentally] I think that is a safe assumption at this point, yes. I certainly have never had any experiences being brought to a strange place before.

[mayavericks]

I am... alright as I can be, considering the circumstances.

[She glances between each of the gathered boys/men. All-Girls school problems...]

It has... been awhile since I have been around a group like this. It took me by surprise.

[alchemistake]

[Sorry you got stuck in the chaos dorm, Maya. It...is a Place.]

Yeah...I live by myself with my dad, so...waking up to a room full of people wasn't expected either.

[Varian sighs, rubbing the back of his head.]

Where even are we...?

[violentenvies]

I live alone as well. This is very unexpected. As for where we are... [he frowns, again]

I believe that is a mystery we will have to solve. [First things first--he's going to walk over to the window to see what there is to see. A bright sunny day, grass, sidewalks...but nothing recognizable]

...it seems that the outside is just as unfamiliar as the inside.

Hey Mods

[mayavericks]

[Maya peers out of the window as best as she can from her vantage point. It's certainly not Seisho.

She shifts over to the trunk and begins shuffling through it until --]

"Gershwin High School Academy University." It's... quite the name. And certainly not a school I've ever heard of. [Since she's here and investigating, what is the mascot, anyway?]

[stagemanagers]

[Ask and ye shall recieve, Maya-

The mascot is this fun-looking little guy!]

[mayavericks]

[She makes a face and puts the yearbook away.]

They have a terrible art department, it would seem.

[alchemistake]

[...]

Is that a gopher?

[violentenvies]

[Salieri is going to take a glance at his own Yearbook after that comment--and wrinkles his nose]

...whatever it is, it's hideous.

[mayavericks]

It's... Certainly something. But at least we know where we are. [She makes a face] Sort of?

[alchemistake]

In some sense of the word, I guess...we have a name for the building, just nothing about the actual place.

[No way to leave...no way to really know.]