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

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus jumps a little when the cabinet slams, nearly dropping the bottle of wine, though he fumbles to catch it just in time. He looks over at Eurydice, eyes wet. ]

I know. They loved each other. They were happy together, even in a place like this. [ His voice breaks, and he dries his eyes on the back of his hand, taking a deep breath. ] The Wizard said - that all this was to put an end to this. But why them? Why any of them? Why us? What have any of us done to deserve this?

[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.

[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!

[howtheworldwas]

[ As Orpheus speaks, Eurydice starts pacing the kitchen, growing increasingly agitated and angry. ]

It's not right. Making people suffer just for a chance to change the past -- if he really cared, he'd try to change the future.

[ She stops abruptly, jaw set. ]

I'm not doing that again. [ She can still hear Antonio's sobs, his writhing, wracking cries of grief. Eurydice doesn't regret saving his life, but there's a part of her that hates that, in order to do so, she had to play the Wizard's game. ]

[themuseabandonsyou]

I can't. We can't. None of us can. It's not right and it's not fair and -

[ He shakes his head and breathes out, head down and shoulders shaking, bringing a hand up to cover his eyes. He doesn't have the words for how he's feeling, all fear and misery and grief and rage, and he has to take a second to try to compose himself. ]

I am good, I am grounded
I'll raise my head and stand up taller
But I can't get my head around it
I keep feeling smaller and smaller
I keep feeling smaller and smaller

[howtheworldwas]

[ Orpheus trembles, and Eurydice immediately abandons what she's doing. It doesn't matter -- what matters now is that Orpheus is hurting, which is itself an injustice. She crosses the distance, taking him into her arms. She can't shelter him from the grief, no matter how much she wants to, but hopefully, she can make it a little more bearable. ]

I know. I know. It's okay. You can rest, for a minute. You don't have to be standing up all the time.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ There's not really anywhere to sit in the kitchen, so Orpheus just... leans against the wall and sinks to the floor, all that energetic rage gone from him and replaced with despair. ]

What can we do? [ he asks, almost so quiet as to be inaudible. ] What can we do? The Wizard is a god to us, here. Maybe even more than that. How can we fight this?