It's Curtains Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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itscurtains2021-06-12 12:00 pm
stagemanagers) wrote in itscurtains2021-06-12 12:00 pm
First Trial
[As the investigation ends, you'll hear Hester's voice inviting you to the auditorium. As this happens, the twin doors on either side of the concession stand, across from the gym, will click open. You can enter on either side; both go to the same place.
When you enter the auditorium, it's dark. There's only the small lights along the walkway behind all the seats, just enough to illuminate where you're going. There's a central path between the seats, down towards where you know the stage must be. That's where you must be going, right? As you pass each row of seats, the lights at their ends flick on, marking your procession and slowly making more and more of the room visible. Shortly, you can see your destination: a circle of podiums stationed in the orchestra pit, below the lip of the darkened, curtained stage. They're all identical, labeled with a cast member's name, save for Mumble's, which is draped in black crepe and has a framed monochrome photo of him - Elijah Wood him - on top.
When you reach the podiums, the lights above the stage finally come on. It's time to meet the Wizard.
The mechanical head, with glowing green eyes, is installed above the stage and the still-closed curtain. Even if you were standing on the stage, it'd be well out of reach. It peers down at all of you, its motions fluid, and speaks with a booming, artificial-sounding voice:]
Welcome to your first trial, everyone. I am the Wizard. It's time to determine who was responsible for the murder of Mumble. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and work together - you'll have to show teamwork if you want to leave this room alive.
When you enter the auditorium, it's dark. There's only the small lights along the walkway behind all the seats, just enough to illuminate where you're going. There's a central path between the seats, down towards where you know the stage must be. That's where you must be going, right? As you pass each row of seats, the lights at their ends flick on, marking your procession and slowly making more and more of the room visible. Shortly, you can see your destination: a circle of podiums stationed in the orchestra pit, below the lip of the darkened, curtained stage. They're all identical, labeled with a cast member's name, save for Mumble's, which is draped in black crepe and has a framed monochrome photo of him - Elijah Wood him - on top.
When you reach the podiums, the lights above the stage finally come on. It's time to meet the Wizard.
The mechanical head, with glowing green eyes, is installed above the stage and the still-closed curtain. Even if you were standing on the stage, it'd be well out of reach. It peers down at all of you, its motions fluid, and speaks with a booming, artificial-sounding voice:]
Welcome to your first trial, everyone. I am the Wizard. It's time to determine who was responsible for the murder of Mumble. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and work together - you'll have to show teamwork if you want to leave this room alive.
EXECUTION: CAME THE LAST NIGHT OF SADDNESS
In the middle of it all stands Empress Elisabeth of Austria, looking perplexed but resigned to her fate. Tucked behind her ear the ice rose Elsa made for her sparkles in the stage lights and Hester, steeling herself in her box, begins to sing:]
All our times have come
Here, but now they're gone
[A tall and imposing masked figure steps out from behind Sissi and takes both her hands in theirs, sweeping her into the small crowd of circling dancers.]
Seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain
You can be like they are
Come on, Sissi
Don't fear the reaper
Sissi, take his hand
[In the distracting swirl of full skirts and coat tails it might be easy to to lose track of Sissi if not for the fact her face is the only one visible. She looks over her shoulder at the person gripping her hands, terror gripping her expression but somehow she doesn’t seem surprised. After all, he’d said she’d married her husband to escape him. With Franz dead and death being her destined fate, how could she get away now? ]
Don't fear the reaper
We'll be able to fly
Don't fear the reaper
Sissi, he’s your man
[The other dancers pay her and her partner no mind, tirelessly twirling with no pauses in their dance but their movements are oddly stiff, almost like their joints won’t bend the way the dance needs them to. Sissi’s partner spins her to face him, gazing down at her through his mask. She lifts her gaze to look up at him- and blanches, all resignation gone from her body language. She starts to shout, to make any kind of sound, but Hester’s voice drowns her out.]
La, la la, la la
La, la la, la la
Love of two is one
Here, but now they're gone
Came that last night of sadness
And it was clear she couldn't go on
[Around Sissi and Death the dancers part and still, encircling them but leaving a wide enough gap for their audience to watch what unfurls. Death grips her hands and begins to waltz while she struggles, trying to pry herself away from him but his grip doesn’t budge.]
Then the door was open, and the wind appeared
The candles blew, and then disappeared
The curtains flew, and then he appeared
Saying, "Don't be afraid"
[He drags her through the waltz, all the while she tries to pull away and run off-stage. Abruptly it all stops and he turns her back to face the audience, finally letting go of her hands and delicately cups her chin and the top of her head-]
Come on, Sissi
She had taken his hand
[-and snaps her neck. Hester chokes on a note as Sissi’s body goes limp in Death’s arms, her eyes going wide with horror. Her hand flies to her necklace, gripping the tiny golden ‘H’ like it’s her own lifeline. Her eyes dart to the Wizard, staring up at him before she finishes the song.]
Sh-she had become like they are
Come on, Sissi
Don't fear the reaper
[On the stage Death dips Sissi’s slack body and leans in to press what might be a kiss through a solid black mask as the curtain closes. The music trails off and Hester clasps her hands over her mouth as soon as the last note leaves her lips, turning and racing out of the balcony box before the spotlight goes out. The glowing green lights of the Wizard’s mechanical head go dim just after and, in the back of the house, the locks on the doors audibly click unlocked.
You are now free to go.]
no subject
In many ways, Sissi's death is a relief. At least it comes to an end. At least the music dies down, the mechanical head stops moving, and they can escape.
Not that Maya does. She waits until the last person has left, sword still in hand, before finally following after.]
no subject
It takes him awhile to realize it's all over because of this. Once he realizes it's over, he finally gets to his feet. He doesn't leave quite yet, instead staring at the stage in complete hopelessness.]
No control
The end is in our future
No point in making plans
It's all deranged
No control
No control
I can't believe I've no control
It's all deranged
I can't believe I've no control
[The end is coming
The end is coming
The end is coming
He silently leaves.]
no subject
Mumble...Sissi...your deaths will not be in vain.
[He glares at The Wizard.] He will face consequences.
no subject
That thought is burned into Varian's mind as the execution unfolds, and really...watching it from here? It seems very little like one for most of it. It's haunting in a way he can't properly describe, and even if he doesn't know the full context behind how personal this is to poor Sissi, he can sense the darkness layered beneath it all. The way the dancers around them move so robotically doesn't much help matters either, and it's honestly the anticipation that really makes this truly awful.
It's watching this dance, listening to Hester sing, while waiting for the other shoe to inevitably drop.
When it finally does, Varian isn't prepared. He couldn't have been prepared.
He isn't ready for it when it happens so suddenly that he almost isn't sure what he's seeing at first. It's instead the sound of her neck snapping- that grisly crack- that sends ice into his veins that finall spurs Varian to move. He jumps so violently that he almost rips himself from Salieri's grasp unintentionally, but instead he moves to completely hide his face. There's no pretenses of strength here; he's a child trying desperately not to look at the callous killing that just took place.
Over a completely accidental death that was equally senseless.
It's not something he's ever going to be able to forget. For some reason, above even the way Siss had gone limp, he can't stop thinking about the way that icy rose glinted in her hair...beautiful and pristine, despite the fact that the person wearing it was very much no longer alive.
He'll leave when Salieri and Farrah do.]
no subject
You don't have to look. [his voice is low, urgent] It's all right if you don't want to watch. You don't have to. [It's their choice. But he must watch--he has to. For Sissi. He'll continue to hold them through it, whether they choose to watch the proceedings or not.
Afterwards, he'll move to lead them both out of there.]
no subject
There’s no joke on the tip of her tongue as he leads them out. Farrahs mute, her head dropped low.]
no subject
The crack of Elizabeth's neck causes her to gasp and look away. Her stomach rolls and for a moment she thinks she may be sick.
When they are allowed to leave she shakily makes her way to the door.]
no subject
When the masked figure lets go of her hands, he feels the briefest swell of hope - only realizing what's about to happen once it's too late to look away. Realistically, the crack of Elisabeth's neck would be too faint to hear from where he's standing, underneath the music and the sound of Hester's voice, but he swears he hears it, and he screams in horror and grief. Turning away and clinging to Eurydice, he buries his face in her hair and closes his eyes, waiting for someone to tell him it's over. ]
no subject
The lights fall and the curtains rise as though they were seated in their own, personal theatre. Front row seats to watch in horror as a public execution plays out before their eyes, bathed in blinding lights and soft song. They're collectively waiting for the guillotine to drop.
And it does. Quick and mercifully bloodless, which was more than Cassandra was expecting. Sissi falls limp like a elegant doll, and as the lights grow dim, and the doors unlock, Cassandra's left thinking. Thinking hard. Plotting.
They're done here.
Time to guide everyone out.]