Week Four

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, Gershwin High School Academy University saw its very first intentional murder! What a milestone! And right after Spongebob's No Murder party, too - that doesn't seem like it bodes very well for anybody's future.

You all wake up this morning with yet another new memory returned to you. You'll also find that the school's external doors have now unlocked. Congratulations! You're free! Unfortunately, you also seem to be entirely in the middle of nowhere. So maybe it's more of a symbolic victory.

Still, you should look around and do some investigation! Maybe you'll find a fun surprise.]

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

[howtheworldwas]

[ Is anybody listening?

This time, when Eurydice wakes, she does not go to the kitchen. She does not take inventory. Instead, she wanders the school, her typically razor-sharp gaze replaced by something more vacant, almost lost. if you cross paths with her, she’ll startle a bit, very nearly confused.

Eventually, her wanderings take her to the woods. She can feel the sun on her skin and the wind in her hair. Eurydice drops to her knees, and she can feel the cold, soft earth beneath them. She is staining her skirt, but she does not care. Eurydice takes fistfuls of the grass — real grass! — and just holds it.

Eurydice turns her face towards the sky and smiles. She is on the surface, above the ground. She is crying, a little, and so, so grateful. ]

Wandering

[violentenvies]

[Salieri is on his way to explore the outside himself (with Discord hovering somewhere, don't worry about it,) when he comes across Eurydice--and he pauses, blinking]

Eurydice? [he's moving towards her, then, expression morphing into a frown at the look on her face]

Eurydice, are you quite alright?

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice has generally been keeping her head down as she walks, but when she hears the voice, she snaps up to attention. She stares for a beat too long, like she's searching for something. ]

Oh -- Antonio. I'm sorry, I --

[ She shakes her head, as if she's trying to clear away dust. ]

I should be getting back to work.

[violentenvies]

[Salieri will reach out to put a steadying hand on her shoulder, that concern intensifying]

Work? What work, exactly?

[howtheworldwas]

[ The wall, she nearly says, before biting her lip. No, that's not right. She's not there anymore. She's -- she has other work to do. She needs to check on things, make sure everything is all right, but she doesn't know where to start --

Eurydice is very clearly overwhelmed, and she tries to ground herself, taking a few deep breaths. ]

The usual. Making sure everything is where it should be.

[violentenvies]

I...see. [HM] Might I ask...have you eaten today?

[howtheworldwas]

[ another beat. ] …Not yet. Guess I just — forgot.

[ Now that’s really unlike her. There’s another delay, as Eurydice looks around, as if she’s trying to decide which way to go. She manages to take a few steps towards the direction of the kitchen, before looking back at Antonio. ]

Have you eaten? Can I grab you anything?

[themuseabandonsyou]

Eurydice?

[ Orpheus woke up later than he usually does, dreaming strange and surreal dreams and spending almost an hour out of sorts and staring at the ceiling over them, not realizing until afterwards that he'd missed his usual meeting with Eurydice. He roams the school looking for her in a state of borderline panic, calling for her, asking the others if they've seen her, before finally being directed outside. ]

Eurydice! [ He runs to her side, dropping to the ground next to her, terrified until he sees her expression. ] Are you - are you okay?

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice turns to face him, eyes shining and wet. She points up at the sky. ]

It's the sun. The sky. I thought I'd never --

[ The rest of the sentence gets caught in her throat, and she turns her gaze back towards the sky, desperate and reverent. ]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ That's all the confirmation he needs. Orpheus feels - a lot of things at once, at that. The sorrow of losing her, the senseless hope in grief that drove him to follow her underground, the joy that she's here, she's here, she's here and he's with her. It all comes out as tears, and he sobs a little as he reaches out to take her hand. ]

It's the sky. You're here. We're here.

[howtheworldwas]

We're here.

[ Eurydice echoes his words, and soon enough, she echoes his sobs, too. She takes the hand, reaching forward with her other one to cup his face. He is here; they are on the surface; Eurydice is home.

She wishes she could stay out here forever. ]

I'm so sorry, Orpheus. I'm so, so sorry.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Raising his hand to rest over hers, he smiles through the tears and shakes his head. ]

It's not your fault. It's not.

[ It's mine, he wants to say, but he knows that will only make Eurydice feel worse, so instead he leans in and kisses her. It's wet with tears and interrupted with little hiccuping sobs, but he doesn't care. She's here, with him, and not stuck in the cruel and suffocating underground. ]

We're here. And we're together. And no storms or gods or wizards are going to take us away from each other again.

[howtheworldwas]

[ Ordinarily, Eurydice would be content to let Orpheus hold her, and try to forget everything, but she can't do that now. There's something he needs to know. ]

No, you don't understand. It wasn't just the storm. I -- I --

[ Eurydice swallows, stifling a sob before the confession pours out. ]

To work on the line, you have to sign a deal. You have to choose. I chose to stay with him, in the factory -- and I regret it now, more than anything, but I still chose. It wasn't the storm, or the gods. It was me.

[ Quieter, her voice breaking: ]

I'm sorry.

wandering

[tellthestory]

...everything alright, Eurydice?

[The Balladeer doesn't seem to have it entirely together himself, but that's no excuse for not trying to help the others out.]

[howtheworldwas]

[ At first, Eurydice startles when she crosses the Balladeer's path. But then he says her name, and things start to click into place a little. ]

I remembered something. [ Something bad. Although come to think of it, B doesn't look that great, either. ] ...did you?

[tellthestory]

.....yeah, I did.

[Seems like it's a pattern, now.]

Was it bad?

[howtheworldwas]

[ She nods. ]

I knew it was coming, but I guess that doesn't make it any easier. [ which sucks! ] Yours, too?

[tellthestory]

Yeah. I didn't...know it was coming, but maybe I should've guessed by now. [He sighs.] Maybe I was just a little over-confident.

[or he just wanted to believe it too badly]

[howtheworldwas]

...Yeah. Guess I was, too. [ ugh. bad all around. ] What do you think's gonna happen, if we get out of here? We just go back to where we were?

woods

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine is exploring, warily, when she comes across Eurydice. She sees her lying there, and even though it’s bright and sunny, even though it’s beautiful out, her heart lurches and she rushes forward in fear. ]

Eurydice— are you okay, what- what happened?

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice points at the sky, seemingly unaware that Peregrine is worried. ]

Look. It's beautiful.

[ Eurydice looks tremendously happy, but her eyes also have a reddish tint that suggests she's recently been crying. ]

[comeandfindme]

[ ...Oh.

Oh, yeah.

Of course Eurydice would be this happy. After what she's been able to figure out...

Peregrine kneels next to her. ]

...It is. I didn't know when I'd get to feel the sun again.

[howtheworldwas]

Me neither.

[ Eurydice is going to savor all she can. ]

It's like spring. I haven't seen one of these in...years, probably. I can't remember the last one.

[comeandfindme]

I think it is spring. Or...Summer. ...Winters are freezing in Minnesota, but...the summers are hot. Humid.

[ Still— ]

Still. Don't...go running off into it, okay?

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice smiles, still grateful but also a little sad, a little lost. ] I'll try not to. I just...I want to be out here, as much as I can.