itscurtains | Week Five

[Last week, you had your very first minor body pileup! Granted, the Balladeer's death was entirely unrelated to anything, but at least he died as he lived - getting completely fucked up in some kind of carnival-themed hellscape. Only two days later, another terrible accident took Rina and Varian both from you. It's just been one of those weeks, huh? At least you got to add both of their corpses to your weird growing collection!

Again, you'll wake up this morning with another new snippet of memory. You'll also find that the stairs in the lobby are no longer blocked. You can only access one part of the second floor, but it seems like there's some neat stuff up there!

Outside, a few things seem to have changed. For one, the weather has turned - it'll be overcast this week, with periodic rain and even scattered thunderstorms. For another, the bushes around that rock out by the football field have bloomed. That's nice.

Get to it, friends! I'm sure everything will be fine this week!]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Be sure to submit your memory regain and your AC for this week! As always, Hester's office hours and the merch booth remain available. ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Peregrine lets out a giggle. ]

My brother told me that. You know? Back when we were just kids. After dad left.

"When something happens,
Come and find me.
Come and find me,
I'll help get you through."

"If someone hurts you,"
He'd remind me,
"Come and find me,
I'll know what to do."

"Come and find me.
I'm always there for you."

[ Peregrine's smiling in a way she doesn't really often. Just so...at ease. ]

And he was. He was the best big brother. 'Till he died.

...He what.

[This is not the backstory turn he expected.]

I'm so sorry, Peregrine.

[ A little stuck in her own head, Peregrine softly hums the melody again. It's her comforting refrain, until it is very suddenly not— When something happens, who will find me? Who will find me, when I'm somewhere left for dead?

But right now, she's so far away from all of that. Like floating on a cloud. ]

He died in the woods. He got lost. No one was equipped to find him. He wandered around in circles, for...hours, they said.

[ She looks right up at Angus, with a distant sort of expression. ]

Like Mumble.

[Oh. Angus recalls the first trial, Peregrine's breakdown at learning Mumble's death, her detailed description of hypothermia. She was speaking not just from experience, but from personal tragedy. Died just like her brother, though the exact death came from Sissi trying to help him.

That tragedy happened not so long ago, but after everything that happened since then, it feels like it has been ages. Ages since they were first trapped by The Wizard. Ages since they had seen no other faces besides each other. Ages since they first tried to escape, with no success.

No wonder everyone is inside the rooms of cursed runes.]

...Do you sometimes wonder what you might have done differently?

Everyone could’ve done everything differently. [ It’s almost serene in how assured it is. ] Everyone let him down. Like Connor.

[ Ah, that’s probably not a fun punch in the gut— ]

If dad taught Jacob how to survive in the woods, he wouldn’t’ve died. If the town was more proactive…if they knew what to do… He wouldn’t’ve died. So. That’s why I’m learning.

[ But… ]

…But I did that wrong, too. [ Peregrine lifts the joint back up to her lips and takes another puff. Maybe because she thinks there needs to be more smoke in the room. That’s probably it. ] We all let them down…and we keep doing it.

[If he had been awake when Sissi was. If he had taught the SQUIP better. If he had encourage Varian to seek their help. Each Friday, he wonders if there was something he could have done. Sees opportunities for saving lives.]

Sometimes, I wonder if Fife would be in better shape if I went back in time a year. If I know Zargothrax's strategy, billions of people would still be alive. If I had successfully stopped a siege.

I can't even start with a list of what I could have done better to protect my people.

[ Peregrine hums again, already distant. Maybe she'll remember this in the morning. Maybe not. ]

If something happens...

Mm... Just don't do it alone... 'Cause if you do...it'll all... All you'll do is screw eeeeverything up.

[Doing it alone-

He needed Ralathor's and The Hootsman, he needed the Hootsforce to take down Zargothrax. He couldn't go at it alone.]

And not here, either. I can't stop the murders alone. [Would he have stopped the SQUIP? Could he stop him? Will he ever stop future murders?]

Hmm...

You are not alone,
You are not alone,
You are not alone...

[ For...some reason this sounds weirdly ominous, but Peregrine doesn't quite realize that, as she leans back against the wall. ]

[She sounds quiet and pensive. That can't be good in her altered state of mind. Angus sets his book aside and slides over to the wall next to the door, dropping onto the floor with a heavy, quick breathe.]

You aren't either, remember? You have Janis and Maya, and Salieri looks after you. And Discord too, probably. [At least he's seen him be nice to the younger people in trials? That has to count for something, if it means he'll eventually become a kinder person.]

[ Peregrine hums with a smile. ]

...I like them. All of 'em. Janis and- and Maya in a different way, but—

They're nice. They listen to me.

That's...good. I hope Discord is gentle with you. [And doesn't call you useless for wanting to be alone for a while.] Please stay with them. They care for you, and together you can face your fears.

He is! [ Her smile widens. The somber mood, it seems, has been left behind. ] He's really nice, you know? He keeps being really nice. He said he's gonna try and bring Connor and everyone else back when we get outta here.

He did?

[Of all the reality bending powers he boasted of, Angus did not expect that one. Would he really do that for all of them?]

Hm. Imagine if we could all be back, not just-

[He was about to say "the people of Earth" but Peregrine has lost a brother. Now is not the time for wistful thinking.]

I wonder if the SQUIP would return as a human.

Well, the SQUIP would need to return as something he could drop in the ocean? Like, just once, just to make it mad. He said he'd do that, too, but it's not my idea, and if he says it's my idea, he's a liar.

[Okay Discord you win this one. Angus manages to get a laugh from that.]

He had better keep that promise if he is a diety of his word.

Don't worry. He gets as much out of it too.

Week Five

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cw: hypothermia talk!

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