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

[defyingfrigidity]

I suppose if there was a group dedicated to such things it's possible, but...

[It still doesn't make much sense. Elsa can.... kind of see it, from a cruel perspective. She's the queen of Arendelle; people could make a fortune off ransoming her. But all the others... are they in similar positions?]

Can you think of any reason why someone would want to kidnap you?

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus considers the question. Would anyone kidnap him? Most of the reasons he can think of that would make it a good idea are also the ones that make it a very bad idea. ]

I'm not anyone special. [ he says.] And the most important people I know are Mister Hermes and Lady Persephone, but I don't think they'd take it very well if something happened to me? They, um. They don't like to compromise.

What about you, though? Do you think someone is trying to get something from your friends by doing this?

[defyingfrigidity]

[Elsa opens her mouth to respond, but something in her mind just. Freezes as she processes what he just said. Mister Hermes? Persephone???]

... Wait, I'm sorry. You know them? The... the actual gods Hermes and Persephone?

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus nods, looking a little sheepish. He honestly kind of forgets it's such a big deal to most people, after spending his entire life around them. ]

Mister Hermes looked after me after my mom left, and Lady Persephone passes through the town where I live every spring and fall.

[ Or, well. She kind of misses the mark more often than not these days, but who's counting? ]

I don't think it's a good idea to demand ransom from the gods, though? So I don't think I'm here because of that.

[defyingfrigidity]

Wow....

[She seems almost awed as he speaks. To know the gods in such a way... he must be a lucky man, indeed. Not many who have met those of that particular pantheon have come out for the better, after all.]

... Yeah, I think that's the most thickheaded mistake you can possibly make. They've cursed people for doing far less, so directly threatening them? If that were the case, we'd be free very soon.

[You know. Because the ransomers would be dead.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Or turned into animals, or turned into animals then dead. You never know! That said, Orpheus nods, solemnly. ]

Maybe Mister Hermes will come find me anyway. I'm sure he'd be happy to send everyone else back home, too. [ So there's that, as a possible avenue of rescue. ] I guess that does mean I still don't know why I'm here, though.

[ He pauses, then adds, ] Oh, um. I'm Orpheus, by the way. It's nice to meet you, despite. All of this.

[defyingfrigidity]

... Orpheus?

[Suddenly, the mention of Hermes and Persephone makes sense.] The

Orpheus? The, um... [... Hm. Maybe don't mention the tragic myth he's most well known for. That's not a very good way to make a first impression.] The Argonaut?

[Wow Elsa, just. Fumble that introduction, huh.]

Sorry, that was rude of me to just. Blurt all of that out. My name is Elsa.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Yes! [ says Orpheus, brightly, blissfully unaware of what Elsa was going to say there and seemingly unbothered by or just plain not noticing her stumbling over it. ] You've heard of us?

[ He guesses it did make the news, when they came back from Colchis with the fleece and Governor Pelias died under mysterious circumstances. Still, he's sort of flattered and impressed. ]

Don't worry about it, I'm not offended. [ he says, beaming at her. ]

[defyingfrigidity]

[With that worry out of the way, Elsa seems to relax a little. She's still confused, of course, but at least she's not afraid that she's going to make the poor guy uncomfortable.]

I have, yes! I've read stories about Jason, Heracles, Theseus... [That guy was kind of a jerk wasn't he?] I... admit, I'm a little surprised, though. I thought they were just stories.

[And, you know, thousands of years old. But let's not get into THAT little snag.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

I don't know who Theseus is, [ says Orpheus, thinking back. Was there someone named Theseus on the Argo? He doesn't think so. He's pretty sure he met everybody, but maybe he missed someone. There were a lot of people on that boat. ] But Heracles and Jason are definitely real. I sang at Jason's wedding, and Heracles tried to teach me how to hunt.

[ That went really poorly! But Orpheus appreciates that he tried, at least. Fond memories, of crying in the woods over a dead deer while a giant man looked on in confused embarrassment. ]

[defyingfrigidity]

[Thanks for making a confusing timeline on par with the Zelda Timeline, greek writers!!]

Wow. Was it easy to learn from him, or did he just make it look easy?

[She can't imagine having someone like Heracles as a teacher. Not because he'd be terrible at it, but his skill just seemed so... natural. It's hard to really teach people things like that when you never really had to put the hard work in yourself.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ it's fine you just gotta work backwards from everybody's intersecting plotlines to figure out when people were where, it's like modern American comic books, it's fine ]

I think it would've been easier for someone who wasn't me. [ Orpheus admits, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly and frowning. ] I um, couldn't kill anything. Not even a rabbit. I felt too bad about it. He tried really hard, but I don't think I have the heart for it.

[defyingfrigidity]

[She laughs, but it's a gentle, amused sound, rather than a mocking one.]

Well, there's certainly no shame in that. [And no surprise, coming from a man whose music could touch the heart of the god of the underworld.] I don't think I'd have the heart for such things, either. It's much better to help life grow, I think, than to end it.

[After all, with all the trouble her magic has caused, especially for her sister... it's enough to last her a lifetime.]

Hopefully he was a good sport about things not working out.

[themuseabandonsyou]

I think he was a little disappointed, but he was nice about it.

[ He'd seemed pretty sad about it, actually, which Orpheus still didn't quite understand, but it was what it was. ]

I agree, though. Hunting is important and I'm glad other people can do it, but it's good not to have to rely on it too much. I'm not much of a gardener either, but I can grow some things.

[ Including flowers, spontaneously, by singing with enough heart, but that's mostly just useful for impressing girls. ]

[defyingfrigidity]

[Not a gardener, but he can grow some things.... right. There was something in the myths about that, wasn't there?]

So it's true, then? That you can make things grow with your music?

[It's not just her love of stories that sends a spark of excitement through her. If it's true... then that means that the man before her can use magic. The idea of meeting someone else like her, someone who was celebrated for their gifts instead of hidden away... oh, it makes her feel like a kid during Yule!]

[themuseabandonsyou]

Hmm? [ Mostly he meant he's competent at growing easy things like carrots and so on, but - ] Yes, I can! I mean, sometimes. I don't have a lot of control over it.

[ He looks a little sheepish as he admits it, shrugging. Plants usually seem to do better when he plays music for them, but sometimes they grow much more than they should be able to, and there's no real predicting it. And then there's what happened with the flower... ]

[defyingfrigidity]

... Do you think you can try it here?

[Elsa gets Anna, now. How she acts like such an awestruck child every time Elsa uses her magic. Being on the other side like this, hearing about things people can do that nobody else can... forgive her. She's just a little excited, is all.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

Maybe! Um... [ Orpheus looks around, gaze settling on a tall, strange-looking plant in a pot in the corner of the lobby. He walks over to it, gesturing for Elsa to follow. Once he reaches it, he takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and begins to sing wordlessly in a high, clear voice.

For a moment, it seems like nothing is happening. Then the plant shudders, buds forming on its woody stems and rapidly unfurling into pale white flowers as his song grows in intensity. He opens his eyes, drawing a song to the close and examining his work before looking back over at Elsa, grinning in a mixture of pleasant surprise and pride. ]

It worked!

[ There's something a little off about the plant, though. Are those flowers made of fabric? Orpheus sure doesn't seem to notice.]

[defyingfrigidity]

[It almost seems like Elsa holds her breath as he croons, eyes focused on the... very fake-looking plant. She looks doubtful, not of his abilities, but rather the "plant" itself... and then it shifts and blooms, and Elsa lets out a shaky little laugh.]

Oh wow.

[This is indeed what Anna must feel like, so awestruck over something so small yet so magical. It's a light, bubbling feeling rising in her chest as she reaches out, touching the... yeah. Very fake flower on the fake plant. But that just makes it all the more amazing!]

I never thought I'd ever meet someone else who can do magic like this...

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus beams at her, still oblivious to the plant being fake as he watches Elsa's reaction rather than study the flowers more closely. When she mentions knowing someone else who can do magic, he raises his eyebrows, looking a little surprised. ]

Oh! Can you do something like this, too? [ he asks, obviously curious and a little excited about the idea. He's known lots of other demigods, having met most of them aboard the Argo, but most of them were exceptionally fast, or strong, or durable. Which was impressive! But not the same as what he could do. ]

[defyingfrigidity]

Not like that, but...

[Elsa holds her hands out, slowly twirling them in the air like she's running them across an invisible globe. There's a light shine to them, a soft blue-white light... and between her palms, a slight burst of snow appears.

... Hm. Her brows furrow ever so slightly; she'd been meaning to so something a little bigger, but even this took effort in a way she hadn't felt in years. Strange... ah, but she can't dwell on that for the moment! As the snowflakes flurry to the floor, she looks back up at Orpheus, a bright smile on her face.]

I've been able to do things like that since I was born.

[It's nice. Really nice. To be able to be so open with her magic. To feel pride in her magic, when for the longest time she was taught to feel nothing but shame and fear.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus's eyes light up as he watches her hands begin to glow, curious about what's about to happen - and gasps delightedly when a small flurry of snowflakes appears between them. ]

That's incredible! [ he says. ] Is one of your parents a god, too?

[ Who would be able to pass on something like that, though. Boreas, maybe? His sons - or at least the ones Orpheus met - just had wings rather than anything to do with ice, but sometimes divine heritage can get a little weird. ]

[defyingfrigidity]

[Even now, three years after her coronation, a part of Elsa almost wants to cry at seeing people react the way Orpheus does. She's in a much better place now, but even three solidly good years of happiness isn't entirely enough to undo thirteen years of self-loathing. But seeing people like that? That's what keeps her negative thoughts at bay. That's what stops her from trying to hide her magic.

Her magic isn't a curse. It's a tool, something she knows can make people happy.]

A god? [She laughs.] No, no! They were just normal people!

[Though honestly, she herself has wondered that. When she was a child, she sometimes wondered if her great-great-great-plus grandmother could have been Skadi. It made sense, back then.]

Honestly, none of us are sure how or why I was born with these powers. It's just... been a part of life, ever since I was a baby.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus doesn't know all the context behind this, of course, but watching her light up like that warms his heart. If he thought about it for a moment it might be a little concerning, why she'd be at all surprised that his reaction is wonderment over her gift, but for now he's just happy that she's happy. ]

That's a little strange, but I guess a blessing is a blessing. Maybe your parents did a favor for one of the gods without realizing it? Sometimes that kind of thing happens.

[defyingfrigidity]

[That gets another laugh out of Elsa, though this time it rings... a bit more hollow.]

A blessing... I'm not sure if I would call it that.

[She's reconciled a lot, with her powers. She's grown so much, and come a long way in accepting these abilities she was given for some mysterious reason. But there's no denying that they caused her a lot of trouble, so a blessing still isn't exactly what she'd consider her powers.]

To be honest, they've given me more trouble than aid, for most of my life.