The sky shines differently today than it did yesterday

[employeeoftheyear]

[Perhaps to the surprise of no one, there is no after party after that trial. Two children were dead. Two children were dead over a simple accident and the Wizard cared more about himself than anyone else. But they won't give up, they can't give up. They had to keep fighting until everything's been set right.

At the Lobby ofrenda later that night, there are six origami pieces accoupling the other memorials. A penguin, a rose, an octopus man, computer, a music note, and the last one are of a boy and girl holding hands. Along with that there is a plate of strawberry cupcakes with blueberry icing and a note that reads:]

There is still hope and love in the world

Never let The Wizard make you think otherwise 💗

Comments

[employeeoftheyear]

[He smiles, sheepishly.]

Aww, I'm not that good. I just thought it was a nice night for music.

[fourbutts]

Yeah. Mood.

[ She looks up to the night sky. ]

I know they're fucked up and fake or whatever, but... it's nice to be able to see them. It's too bright back home.

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice nods. ]

Dying isn't a loophole. It's not going to fix anything. So don't ever, ever, think that it can.

garden

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus turns up at around the same time as Eurydice, and picks up a shovel of his own. It's hard, not to collapse into tears again, at the sight of the two of them laid out together, but he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, before turning and burying his shovel in the dirt. He's quiet for a long while, just digging, and digging, and digging, before he speaks up again. ]

Thank you. For... thinking to give Varian the cloth. That was - a mercy. Less than he deserved, but the best we could do.

[fourbutts]

Don't put yourself down, man. It's good because it's you.

[ She moves over and sits next to him, setting her notepad to the side for later. ]

I don't have a kazoo, but... wanna sing something together?

Broadhurst

[mayavericks]

[Maya is just leaving when Elsa approaches. She glances at the woman and lizard and --]

Can I -- [She looks at the terrarium.] Did you want to take that?

[mayavericks]

They're... comforting.

[She closes her eyes.]

The Balladeer and I looked at them together. When I was questioning everything we were offered this week. It reminded me of Starlight.

[themuseabandonsyou]

We didn't know. None of us knew. [ Orpheus sits down next to him, and offers him a cup. It's empty, but he'll fill it with wine if Angus accepts it. ] I tried. I thought maybe if we all talked to each other about what the Wizard was trying to threaten or tempt us with, that would help. But I never got around to asking Varian about it.

[ He shakes his head. He was too busy worrying about Maya and Farrah. Varian hardly even registered. ]

[mayavericks]

I was not looking for a loophole. I just... Did not want for him to suffer.

[fourbutts]

[ Ah. Janis's expression sobers a bit. ]

Guess it would. Not a lot of towers to climb around here, though.

[ She chuckles. ]

Still not my favorite thing to look at that I can't get in Chicago, though.

[defyingfrigidity]

[A lot of people might be angry or wary of Maya right now. Elsa understands that, but she also understands Maya; they were all desperate for answers, reeling from a death that was so personal for so many of them. So she doesn't look wary as she nearly walks into the girl, just... awkward.]

Sorry, I... I know it's not my place to. It's not even my room. But my little friend there seems very worried about V- Varian's lizards. I thought... maybe they'd want some company.

[mayavericks]

I wonder what would happen, if we tried to climb this building.

[She motions to the school, then shakes her head.]

Peregrine really is incredibly attractive, isn't she?

[mayavericks]

No, no. [Maya holds her hands up.]

Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Truthfully, I can barely take care of the one I came across. [She motions to her one sad and lonely lizard. At least she's kept it fed!]

They would be in better care and company with you, I think. And V- And he would appreciate knowing they were being looked after.

[fourbutts]

I mean... there is a way up to the roof now.

[ She just hung out with Spongebob there! But that second part gets her to snort. ]

Now, now, I know she's the hot one in this relationship, but that's no reason to put yourself down like that.

Gayseball Field

[mayavericks]

[Sorry, Cassandra. Someone else is setting up camp here, too. Maybe a little further away but when Maya notices her presence --]

Would you rather I leave?

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice's tone is brittle, angry. ]

Nothing. The Wizard's full of it. If he really knew what it was like to lose a family, or -- [ here, Eurydice's voice gets dangerously close to breaking ] -- a home, he'd never do this.

[mayavericks]

[Until this point, Maya's done her best to avoid wine. She doesn't drink, has never drank, and it would do terrible things to her reputation. But... To hell with it, tonight. Everything hurts, and she would rather not think.

She takes a cup of the wine and downs it.]

[mayavericks]

It's... a pleasant idea but. Starlight is a tragedy, after all. I think that is the last thing we need right now.

[Maya breathes out, just a little. It might be a laugh? Maybe?]

Not putting myself down. Just acknowledging a fact.

[mcfife]

He told how he couldn't trust his princess anymore. That he would rely only on himself from now on.

Why didn't I say anything? Why did he not ask for help? Why did he have to make that choice?

[It's not like the SQUIP, who listened to Angus and who he regarded as his responsibility. Varian was a teenager who could make his own decisions. And they got him killed. Yet he was there, watching his fearful expression in the nurse's office without knowing how much preventable pain was to happen.]

I saw it in his eyes. Despair. What I thought the civilians of Earth felt as they felt their planet begin to explode. I could feel that fear. But...it wasn't for the exact reason I believed it to be. [Is he mad at Varian for lying to them? For killing his girlfriend to save his father? At the Wizard for giving him that choice? Angus can't pin it down.] I had another chance, Orpheus, and I blew it.

[themuseabandonsyou]

If he's so powerful, there must be some other way to do what he wants, without all of this, and he just refuses to see it. It's not worth it. All this suffering, to try to undo the past. If he's even telling the truth about that. If he's not just trying to excuse murdering people, and trying to push us to do the same.

[ Orpheus's voice raises steadily as he talks, until he's nearly shouting. ]

They were just kids! They were kids and they were in love and they had people who loved them!

[defyingfrigidity]

... Yeah.

[She knows Ruddiger was the pet Varian's had for longer, the one that had been from home. But these little guys... they certainly had to mean something to him too, right?]

I couldn't do anything for him before... the least I can do now is look after the things he liked in his stead.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ See normally Orpheus would think a little bit about handing a teenager a cup of wine, but honestly it's... been a day. It's been a week. It's been a month. Still, though, he seems a little surprised by Maya just downing it like that. ]

Um, be careful. This stuff is stronger than it tastes, and it'll hit you all at once if you drink it like that.

[fourbutts]

Guess so. [ A beat as she chews on her lip, then: ] Alright, time to get sappy.

[ She looks back from Maya to the stars, and... starts to sing, softly. It's to Maya, right now, but... she can almost see the split screen, wherever Peregrine is right now. ]

Weak, fake, easy to break
That's how I've felt recently

[ She turns bodily, pulling away to swivel around and look Maya in the eyes. ]

But you, make it
When you're with me
I'll tell you what I see

Plastic don't shine
Glitter don't shine
Rhinestones don't shine the way you do.

[ She stands, in the middle of this weird baseball field, under a night sky someone may as well have painted, looking directly at her girlfriend, pointing at her as she takes a couple steps back. ]

You are so real
You are so rare
I see you there, I see you

[ She spins, jacket twirling around her. ]

I see stars
So many stars tonight

[ And right back to facing Maya, but also trying to reach Peregrine in some sort of narratorly way: ]

You could make diamonds dull
You are so beautiful

I see stars
You shine as bright as day
I will look out for you
We'll light each other's way
You're my star...

[mayavericks]

It's a noble act.

[Maya is quiet for a long moment, picking up her pillow and blanket, then wrapping it carefully around her shoulders. Maybe she could have left it at that, but...]

This is the hardest part, you know. Trying to... Find some normalcy, in the wake of everything. To understand the right thing.

[defyingfrigidity]

I don't know how people can do it.

[She shed her tears earlier. Now, she only feels the bone-deep tiredness instead of an urge to burst out crying. But even so, she feels her eyes stinging again...]

The people who see death every day... I don't understand how they can just keep going on like that. Ever since Mumble's death, so much of our time here just feels like I've been drifting. Like we haven't set our feet on solid ground for weeks now...