Week Three

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, some shit went down! Salieri's scene went off without a hitch, but the good mood didn't last. The first motive was a bit of a doozy, and yet it didn't even have anything to do with the eventual accidental death of Mumble Happyfeet! At least Sissi was already pretty much dating Death anyway, right? She's probably fine, wherever she is.

This week, new menus have been posted in the cafeteria. But, more importantly, it seems that other new information has emerged. Everyone wakes on Sunday with some new memories - or are they old ones? - floating around in their heads. Maybe there was something to your discussions of time travel after all. Maybe there was someting to the Wizard's knowledge of the future.

Regardless, you're still stuck in here. At least there's some new places to explore this week. Maybe you'll find something helpful.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Be sure to submit your memory regains and your AC for this week! Hester's office hours and the merch booth also remain available! ))

Comments

[tellthestory]

[Today, the Balladeer's wearing something reasonably similar to his regular costume, plus his bomber jacket. It just feels more comfortable like that.

Most of his morning's spent in the nurse's office, oddly enough! Things being what they are, he's got no practical experience with first aid. Plenty of what's in here is straightforward enough; even he can't mess up applying a band-aid. But the other stuff? He'll be looking through cabinets and inspecting stuff for a little while]

Do you know what these are for? [It's an epi-pen!] And what's with that?

[He's...he's talking about the mannequin.

Later, he goes to the cafeteria to use the vending machine. Most of what he gets isn't terribly interesting. There's a couple extra harmonicas, and rather a lot of alcohol - he opens up the flask with the zig-zags to sniff the contents, then grimaces and closes it up again - but then there's a tape recorder! It's fancier and a bit more advanced than his mental picture of one, but still pretty recognizably a tape recorder. 

Curious to listen, he goes over to sit at the table and flips it on. A gravelly voice comes out - basic conversation at first, like an interview, but then it starts to go places:]

Life is disappointment. It affects you because you have the opposite expectation. You expect everything should work out in your best interest. You're a good person, you deserve it. But nature doesn't care about your expectations...

[The Balladeer's brow is furrowed, elbows resting on the table. He doesn't move to turn it off.

After the meeting, he seems pretty withdrawn. He wasn't lying, when he said he'd rather know; it's better to just face the truth. But that doesn't mean the confirmation of his own death hasn't shaken him a little. The stuff about Hester, too, and about his show. He wants to believe things went well, that nothing as terrible as last week happened under his watch. As far as he remembers now, that's what happened! But is that just...an unreasonable expectation?

He doesn't want to think about this. He can't do anything about it, so...he goes to the library and sits down to watch a movie. The first thing he can find, really. He'll be here for the next two hours or so, just...taking all of that in.]

Cafeteria

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus is on his way by on his way to get lunch, and waves to the Balladeer in passing as he goes - only to stop dead in his tracks when the man's voice comes on. For a moment he's absolutely baffled, looking around the room frantically for the source of it. He dismisses the little black box on the table at first - it's much too clear to be a recording, at least to Orpheus's mind, but after a moment of not seeing anyone but himself and the Balladeer he remembers where he is and what the technology here can do.

Hesitantly, he draws a little closer, listening closely. ]

Did you get that out of the machine? [ he asks the Balladeer quietly, not wanting to interrupt but too curious to wait. ]

[tellthestory]

Hm? Oh, yeah.

[The Balladeer blinks, and takes a moment to look up at Orpheus. On the tape, the deep-voiced man is asking questions of another, who sounds increasingly flustered until he finally breaks down:

"Sorry...this is...I don't know if you knew, but my parents died in a car accident, similar to that, when I was thirteen."

"Hm. So maybe you understand. What the worst thing is."]

It's an interview, I think. With a guy named Peter James Howland. He said so at the start - the other one, I don't know his name.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus, not knowing which voice is the interviewer and which is the interviewee, assumes Peter James Howland is the one he doesn't recognize. ]

That's Lord Hades. I'd recognize his voice anywhere. I've never heard him say so much at once, though.

[ He's not a very talkative god, at least when he comes up to the surface. Maybe he has more to say back at home, but obviously Orpheus has never been there to see it. ]

[tellthestory]

........what?

[That's enough to get him to turn to Orpheus in confusion. Why would Hades be interviewing some guy? And also...sound so normal?]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus pauses until the man with the familiar rumble to his voice starts talking again and says, ]

Him. That's him. That's the King of the Underworld. But I don't recognize the thing the recording is playing on? It's probably not mine, or Eurydice's. But everyone else thinks the gods are just stories...

[ so what the fuck, basically ]

[tellthestory]

["...but to never consider your death? Foolish! What did Marcus Aurelius say? You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say..."

The Balladeer frowns.]

...the guy definitely said that was Peter Howland. I don't know what that means - he didn't say why they were talking. I'm not sure this was really meant to be listened to like this.

[Maybe he was gonna write an article or something with it later? Like a journalist.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

Sometimes the gods go by pseudonyms? When they don't want to be recognized. But... I don't think Lord Hades really does that?

[ That's more Hermes's thing. Orpheus goes quiet, listening to the recording, and hears nothing to convince him that this isn't the God of the Dead talking. ]

And I don't know why someone would be interviewing him, or why he'd agree to it. But I know that voice.

[tellthestory]

He mentioned someone being found dead on his land. I don't know if that's what the interview's about, though. He didn't really ask much about it...

[...oh, hm. The topic is, in fact, getting much more personal.]

library

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Cassandra's well on her way out of the library, stepping in today to check for any other interesting copies, or the off chance that the inventory had changed from the day prior. Imagine her surprise to find other people spending their time in here - AKA; not terribly.

But imagine her shock when she crosses paths behind the Balladeer and finds him using one of those weird, box things on the wheels??? It's lighting up and glowing? What?]

What the heck is that?

[tellthestory]

No idea, but it's a lot.

[He's talking about the cinematic style of Baz Luhrmann.]

I mean, it's Romeo and Juliet, but it's a lot.

cafeteria

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice makes her way to the Cafeteria to redeem her own coins, but as soon as she hears the voice, she stops in her tracks.

It's him. He came to her, in the storm. He offered her a choice. Eurydice stands a few feet away from the Balladeer and his recording, and after a few moments, all she can hear is see, people get mean when the chips are down.

Eurydice approaches, reaching over the Balladeer's shoulder to switch off the machine. Her hand is shaking. ]

Don't -- don't listen to him.

[tellthestory]

[The Balladeer startles a little when she turns it off and speaks. He had been rather absorbed in the interview - some quality of it was...it catches at you.]

Oh? Why's that? I mean - I guess that was a little...dark.

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice does not care that she's startled someone. All she wants is to stop hearing that voice. ]

He -- he makes everything sound worse than it is.

[ It sounds like Eurydice is trying to convince herself, more than anyone else. ]

You should avoid anything to do with him.

[tellthestory]

Maybe. Yeah, probably.

[It seems like there was maybe a little something to it...but the Balladeer's always tried to be an optimist. It seems a little unnecessary to think about your own potential death all the time, right?]

Do you know him?

[howtheworldwas]

That's Lord Hades. [ Then, because the Balladeer definitely isn't from her world: ] He rules over the Underworld. He likes to say it's better there, but he's wrong.

[ He has to be wrong. ]

I bet that recording's trying to convince you, too.

[tellthestory]

...could be.

[Yeah, on reflection, he can...kinda see that.]

He said his name was Peter, though. Not - he didn't, the other guy did. In the opener.

[howtheworldwas]

[ Peter? The other guy? That...doesn't make sense. Eurydice frowns. ]

I suppose Lord Hades could take other names, but I don't know why he would. Who was the other one?

cafeteria

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine stops in her tracks, almost dropping her tray of food. ]

Howl?! [ She turns and— there's his voice, coming from a digital recorder. ] Where- where'd you get this?!

[tellthestory]

[The Balladeer looks up sharply, surprised.]

It came out of the machine. Is...is it yours?

[It clearly isn't really; neither of the voices on it are hers, and he sort of assumes it belongs to the interviewer. But if she knows them, then that's near enough.]

[comeandfindme]

It's...not exactly. But that's Howl! I'd know him anywhere, it sounds like him, like things he'd say—

[ For what? The other voice on the tape recorder causes her to look even more excited. ] And that's Brett! Ohhh my god, this must be one of his interviews!

[tellthestory]

Oh! That's him?

[That piques the Balladeer's interest! Put like that, he can see where "interviewer" is a solidly-constructed niche for a narrator - though of course, that's just a theory of his at the moment.]

Yeah, he said at the start that it was an interview with Peter Howland, but he didn't introduce himself. Guess he wouldn't, if it's his tape.

[comeandfindme]

Yeah!

[ It feels like she heard them both just days ago, in her dreams— but at the same time, it's a breath of fresh air now. Peregrine's captivated, even though all Howl's talking about is his philosophy on life and death, something she's heard many, many times. ]

Oh, wow. This must be one of the interviews he did after watching us train. I've never heard this before.

[tellthestory]

He hasn't published the podcast yet?

[yeah he still has no clear idea of what exactly a podcast is]

How do you know this guy? Howl? It sounded like they'd talked before, and I guess this is just the raw interview anyway - there wasn't much of an introduction to the whole thing.

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine shakes her head, regarding Brett publishing his podcast. ]

No, it— well...the story's...not really done yet. [ And now she hesitates. ] Howl, um... He's the one who... [ She pauses, just listening to Howl and Brett talk, even though it's far from a pleasant conversation. ]

...My brother went missing. A year and a half ago. Howl...found him, when no one else could. He...found his body.