Week Two

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, no murder happened! Instead, a lot of students started work on Salieri's school play, which sounds pretty cool even though it's gonna be short, several people destroyed Bigfoot and got a few mysterious clues, and Orpheus started a fire in the kitchen! All in all, not a bad first week!

Though some people might have gone to talk to Hester, she hasn't made any more public announcements. There's some new papers posted up around the cafeteria, but it looks like it's just your upcoming lunch schedule. Seems like nothing's driving you towards Rule Five except, perhaps, all of the kidnapping and how criminally boring some of you are finding the school. Maybe the Balladeer is right, and you really can just wait this out? Only time will tell!]


Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( No new locations this week, since y'all haven't paid in blood! Hester's office hours are still open, as are regains! Make sure to complete your first activity check by Tuesday! ))

Comments

TUESDAY

[stagemanagers]

MOTIVE: Waiting To Make A Change

[tailor_made]

[At 11 am on Tuesday the doors to the (presumably empty) cafeteria very quietly swing shut from the inside and lock. Any attempts to get them open again (kicking, knocking, bodily chucking yourself at the door) will be unsuccessful. 

At 12 pm the doors unlock with a soft click and, much like that first Sunday, Hester's voices comes from over the PA system:]

Good afternoon, everyone! Please report to the cafeteria immediately for a special presentation.

[Once the students have filed in they'll see Hester standing on the high-rise area once more, hands folded across her midriff while she waits. She's dressed less colorfully than she usually is, opting for a very simple button-down black summer dress with her hair once again braided. Laid out on a table on the lower floor are envelopes, each with someone's name on them. She does a silent headcount to make sure everyone is accounted for and then the music starts.]

You will see everything that can and will go wrong
With your world and those who lead it
You feel like you don't have the means
To rise above and defeat it

In each of these envelopes you'll find pictures of an event from your future. 

[She motions to the envelopes.]

Now if you could have the power
To bring friends and lovers home
They would have never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on their doors

The Wizard has decided if someone can successfully commit a murder and get away with it by this Friday the culprit will be allowed to leave and whatever future event they wish to prevent or avoid entirely will be granted. 

[When the verse ends Hester glances around the cafeteria, anxiety creeping into her expression. Quickly she turns and walks in the direction of one of the staircases leading up to the platform "stage"/eating area, her short heels clicking loudly against the linoleum. She bypasses the stairs completely, instead slipping behind one of the massive "GERSHWIN GROUNDHOGS" banners and vanishing.]

 
[ ooc: Happy first motive, everyone! To iron out just a few details, "future events" can be as in or out of context as you like and it can refer to either your character's actual canon point or presumed canon point. ]

1/2

[brokeforgood]

What, like she's now an assistant director, secretary, and a psychic now? [Farrah rolls her eyes, making her way to the table, and picking up her envelope. She rips it open.]

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine knows looking at whatever’s in the envelope is a bad idea. But she’s too curious for her own good sometimes. She pales slightly. ]

…So, he’s…an expert with Photoshop. No one can tell the future. [ But she sounds less sure than she’d like to be. ]

[alchemistake]

[For a week, they'd all been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Things couldn't continue the way they were, as much as Varian wanted to cling to that idea. There was a sneaking suspicion that their captors wouldn't simply wait around for someone to act...and what Connor had told Varian has come to pass, exactly.

They're being persuaded in a very personal way.

He's quiet as he takes his envelope along with everyone else, opening it up while still watching Hester out of the corner of his eye. He'd waited until the end of the explanation to actually go for his, so he catches the strange way Hester's expression shifts before she disappears before much of anything can occur.

Varian pulls out his photo, and it takes a moment for him to fully register what he's looking at. Brows raised, then furrowed as he looks closer. That...can't be right.

Can it? From his future?

"Stay right there! Don't move an inch!

I don't know how you got here, or how I got here, but I don't like this. So, no tricks, Varian."

Ruddiger tilts his head far over to try to look at Varian's face, patting at his cheek with one of his hands, but Varian doesn't really respond. He actually ends up laughing under his breath. Scoffing, even.]

...this doesn't mean anything.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Cassandra is among the ones that happen to notice the cafeteria closing its doors all on its own. And no amount of throwing herself against it was going to get it open again. With little other option, she stood back and waited to see what happens.]

We're being given rewards if we kill someone now?

[If even that, she huffs, taking her envelope and slicing it open with the nail of her thumb.

She looks at the photo inside. Her hand trembles, jaw set in a gritted clench.]

This can't be... [Real. She wants to say as much, but she can't. Her temper flares up even further, once she spots Hester making a swift exit. Needless to say, she stuffs the photo back into its envelope before giving chase up on the stage area.]

Hey! What's this supposed to mean, huh? You gonna give me an answer, or-

[The banner is yanked aside, revealing... nothing. A blank wall is all she meets.]

...Great.

[tellthestory]

[This was...unexpected. The Balladeer looks around at everyone else first, growing increasingly more doubtful. What's his future hold? He couldn't even start to guess. Could it really be anything that much worse than just...going back to his show.

Frowning, he opens the envelope and slides the picture out.

He immediately makes a loud choked-off sound, his free hand flying up to cover his mouth. His grip tightens on the photo to the point of nearly crumpling half of it, but he can't seem to avert his gaze.]

[disharmonizes]

Well, spoiler alert. You're just going to start giving things away ahead of time? [Casually ripping open that envelope and pulling out the picture.] Seriously, wh--

[Then he squints at his picture. Looking up, at where Hester vanished. Squinting back down.]

...Is this supposed to be a joke? [So he says but he clearly does not find this very funny.] We're doing jokes now? And here I didn't prepare one!

[defyingfrigidity]

[An event from the future? Like a prediction? Elsa would be a bit of a hypocrite if she said she didn't believe in fortune telling or the magic of reading someone's future. After all, what she can do would be considered nonsense or the stuff of fairy tales to other people. But it still seemed so... impossible. The future is prone to change over the smallest things, so how can they be certain something recorded now will come to pass anytime down the line?

Still... it's with a morbid sense of curiosity that Elsa reaches out to her own envelope, and with an uncertain hand pulls it open and tugs the picture out.]

... W... what?

[Something that hasn't happened in a long time hits her, just then; her powers act up without her knowing. It's nothing big - a slight chill in the air surrounding her, and a thin layer of frost scrawling out across the photo from where her hand clutches it - but it's a bit noticeable to anyone nearby.]

No... this is fake. There's no way this can be real.

[But then, how does the Wizard know this person...?]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus watches the performance and explanation with skepticism and concern. The Wizard may be powerful, but not even the gods can alter the tapestry of fate as it's woven. Still, though - he knows stories about the Fates making... certain allowances, or otherwise playing tricks with peoples' expectations of them. What if this is one of them?

With no shortage of trepidation, he reaches out and takes the envelope, worrying his lip as he carefully slides it open.

And blinks, slowly, not comprehending what he's seeing for a long, long moment. Then it strikes him, like a hammer to the chest. His eyes go wide, hands shaking, and he draws a shuddering breath through his teeth. ]

No. [ he breathes, shaking his head and putting it back in the envelope. No. He won't allow it. ]

[mayavericks]

[It's such a simple photo. It's her, standing tall as ever. Even with her back turned to the camera, it's obvious that she's dressed in the uniform of a duelist, or at least some fancy amalgamation of it. There's a rapier -- a real rapier, not some prop -- clutched within her hands. And at her feet, there is bright red jacket that many might recognize from the vending machine the day prior.

To anyone else, it might not make sense. To Maya, it's everything she feared.]

This is a lie.

[But even if she thinks that, she doesn't linger to argue. She crumples the photo within her hand and drops it. Without another word, she turns on her heel and leaves the room.]

[yourattention]

[Connor looks at the image for a whole moment, while everyone else is freaking out. Everyone else seems to, like, know what their pictures mean? But he has no idea what the fuck this is.]

Am I supposed to, like, care? About this? Because I don't even know what it means.

[fourbutts]

[ Janis is... going to go ahead and call herself skeptical about this one, but she checks her photo anyway.

Just her, standing outside Cady's house, and... huh. ]

Wow, thanks for the heads up, I guess, but I handled this fine last time it happened.

[ She does, at least, have the decency to say that without trying to speak over the people learning that they fuckin die or whatever holy shit? ]

[mcfife]

How are you supposed to prevent any of this? How can we even trust you?

[He's apprehensive about opening his, after learning what Farrah found, but if there's another evil wizard threatening Fife, he has plenty of help with that! Angus rips off the edge of the envelope and pulls out the photo-

He doesn't recognize the stage. He doesn't recognize the pink creature standing above him. What's clear is that this is his body lying in two pieces, the blood spilling over the boards.

He crumples the photo and stuffs in into his pocket.] Lies.

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob laughs as he takes his envolopes.]

What could possibly happen in Bikini Bottom that would make me wanna kill someone? That place is a paradise!

[But sure! He'll humor the Wizard! He opens the envelope and looks at the contents.

...

At first, Spongebob isn't sure what he's looking at, and if anyone else were to look it seems like whole lot of red at first. But he starts to look at the details, and his face pales.

He's silent for a minute, face growing in horror, before he finally speaks.]

Th-this isn't a funny joke! There's no way this could happen!

[Right?]

[prophetpriestandking]

[This is...

...unprecedented. Mumble holds the envelope in his hands, but not even that matters in this moment. What Hester says - [i]sings[/i] (and what heresy, he's sure the elders would say, it is to use song to deliver such evil) unsettles Mumble more. Here, the Alien before him was claiming to know of what is and shall be, and of the power change it.

And only offers it at a price.

Their indifference stirs Mumble's heart, and he realises that anger's building at his throat.]

Wait-! Come back!

[But even after giving chase, she's gone. Mumble stands in the stairway, defeated...but this isn't hopeless. He's not giving up yet. He believes in the others, and believes in the best in them.

He looks at the envelope. Whatever's in there, he can solve on his own. No one has to die for this.]

[whatyouwant]

[That doesn't sound legit, but other people seem to be having a pretty strong reaction to their envelopes. Anxiety builds as she opens her own and looks at the picture.]

Um...what?

[mayavericks]

[In the end, there is but one option -- at least outside of the one that Hester seems so eager to present. If Maya knows her future, then she can work to change it. That means working harder than ever.

Maya only goes to retrieve her pilfered Rapier from her locker. She stops short when a certain jacket falls to her feet. She has half of a mind to take Connor up on his offer to burn the damn thing. Instead, she hefts it up, as well as the button that had come with it.

She spends a few minutes in the costume shop, fiddling with a needle and thread until she's managed to haphazardly sew the cord back onto the jacket. She throws it over her shoulder and lugs yet another mannequin out, this time to the dance studio.

She won't be leaving. Even late into the evening, Maya can be found practicing. Sometimes her head is between her legs as she sits upon the ground, breathing heavily. Other times, she's focusing on her dance moves, or pairing them with swordplay as she brutalizes the poor mannequin that has apparently wronged her.]

[yourattention]

[Connor ends up at the vending machine after that motive nonsense. He puts a single coin in, a solo yolo, and gets... a piece of paper? Okay?

Dear Connor Murphy,
Yes, I also miss our talks. Stop doing drugs, just try to take deep breaths and go on walks. I'm sending pictures of the most amazing trees—you'll be obsessed with all my forest expertise!

Dude, I'm proud of you. Just keep pushing through—you're turning around, I can see.

Sincerely,
Me

.................... So that's a thing.]

What the fuck? Is this some kind of sick joke? Who prints their emails?

[Later, he ends up in the dance studio. It's like he was doing yoga, or at least intended to, and is instead lying on the floor and aimlessly looking up at the ceiling. It be like that sometimes.

Eventually, he ends up in the costume shop. He's working on, uh. Well. Unclear, honestly. It's ugly, whatever it is.]

[alchemistake]

[Varian arrived to this place with a lot of confidence in himself. Too much, perhaps. Something about the motive today...it's caused a subtle change in Varian. It's very subtle, because he's managed to keep his attention distracted, steady the tremor of his hands and push forward. What's starting to grow and fester in him now is doubt.

So he's not going to allow himself a moment's rest to think about it. He's going to work until he drops if he has to to stay out of his own thoughts.

Varian leaves the cafeteria and heads straight for the Scene Shop. That's actually where he'll be most of the day, keeping to himself but obviously very intent on whatever it is he's doing. A new part of his attire is a utility belt given to him by Salieri, one that he's methodically picking out and filling with tools. A hammer, wrench, screw driver, crowbar...literally one of anything he can find that might be of use to him in the future. He's going to keep his blueprint notes on him now at all times, written on scraps of paper and kept in the pockets of the belt for easy access.

Unlike any other time people have seen Varian working, though, he's completely silent. He says nothing as he gathers supplies.]

[employeeoftheyear]

[Spongebob is unusually silent after the motive, spending most of his time the rest of the day sitting on the cafeteria floor. He seems lost in thought, and fiddling with something on his finger. Occasionally a tinny song comes from his direction.

This is fine, he'll be fine.]

[mcfife]

[Angus doesn't know how to feel. Confused, mostly. Angry. Obviously worried considering that he had seen an image of his dead body, but his duties constantly put him at risk. How is he meant to know what series of events would lead him to be slain by an otherworldly creature?

He books it to the weight room, where he focuses on getting his blood pumping for reasons other than fear, the folded envelope on the ground. Wizards can look into the future. They can see general events, but not specifics. He'll be fine. He just has to trust in his allies and not get killed in a war. There's no need for murder.

But all that exercise gets him exhausted, leading to an hour-long stay in the Boy's Locker Room, standing in the shower and staring at the wall.]

[disharmonizes]

[So how about that motive! Discord wandered off after all that drama, and now... well...

For once, Discord's not found causing problems on purpose. Actually, mostly he's... wandering around aimlessly, through the halls, not paying much attention to where he's going. And then turning around to do it again. It sort of looks like he's pacing, which isn't a super Discord-y thing to do, all things considered.

He distracts himself from this later by making a stop to the vending machine, getting some new garbage that he'll be depositing in the Ambassador Dorm later, pretty unceremoniously. Most of it, anyway.

In the evening, Discord's at the gym, which he hasn't really visited much at all. He's pacing near the bleachers, where--

did he put a lizard on the bleachers.]

I mean, really, of course it's fake. As if there'd be a question about it! They really think they can fool the Lord of Chaos, I mean, the audacity!

[he's talking to the lizard........]

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[An hour or so after the motive announcement comes and goes, a string of posters begin to appear in the halls. They're pinned to the walls, starting from the dorms all the way down to the front doors; plain, a bit rudimentary. The person behind them isn't the most artistic, but the handwriting on these sheets of paper is quite neat for the speed it must have been written.

MEETING IN THE CAFETERIA, TOMORROW; TEN O'CLOCK.
It's time to start planning an escape.
-Cassandra

If you're lucky, you might catch the young woman in the act of setting them up.]

[tellthestory]

[In the morning before the motive, the Balladeer can be found in the kitchen! He's partaken of breakfast courtesy of Spongebob, of course, but nonetheless he's still here, leaning on the counter and attempting to feed various bits of cut-up fruit to his lizard.

He's also singing quietly to himself:]

- he'll say to me, "I see who you truly are,
A guy on whom I can rely."
And that's how we'll begin, the lizard and I.

[Is he just taking the piss, or.

Anyway, after the motive goes out, the general mood is pretty starkly different. The Balladeer is sitting in the hallway immediately outside the cafeteria, with his back up against the brick wall separating the two areas. He's pale, and sort of looks like he might be shaking a little. He's just...gonna sit here for a little bit. That's all. He should really be checking to see how everyone else is doing - they're the proper characters, after all. But he'll be no good to them in this state. Just...just give him a second.]