you better wise up, 'cause i'll rise up, bring on any challenge

[comeandfindme]

[ Early on Wednesday, word goes around for everyone to meet in the Boys Bathroom at noon again, for another meeting. This time, with Salieri's help, Peregrine is leading it. ]

Okay, you guys. So, we're all scared, but we're all still here. And now we know we're not alone. For our sake, and...for theirs, let's see what we've learned what we can figure out. ...We're not gonna have another repeat. Not again.

(OOC NAVIGATION)

• || IC INFO SHARE | Link to Clues Spreadsheet||


• || GHOSTS ||


• || INVESTIGATION | Second Floor East Hall 1 | Second Floor East Hall 2 | Roof | Leftover Areas ||


• || GENERAL MEETING CHATTER ||

Comments

[comeandfindme]

[ And, well— ]


I talked to Hester after...after everything on Friday. Considering everything... She seems to be a key piece of the puzzle, and... [ Where does she fucking start. Peregrine takes a breath. ] Hester met the Wizard after graduating high school. She didn't have anyone else, she was a foster kid. Never met her mom, no one even knew who her dad was.

They were...both traveling on a train and they got to talking about...just, life. Interests, traveling, stuff like that. When the train made a stop, she got off with him, to stretch her legs and get something to eat but— but it wasn't a train station.

The train stopped at a Denny's. No one seemed to think it was weird except her! The Wizard, he started doing like...real magic. Like real magic, and it sounds like to her, like me, that's a pretty big deal. They were sitting there and talking and— and I asked her, how'd she get from that to here, and she started to answer me, but...

But then she couldn't.

She stopped talking, like...not like she couldn't remember, but like she couldn't put it to words. And then she just... She collapsed. [ Peregrine rubs at her temples. ] It was a migraine. She said she got them before. She couldn't say what before was. I don't... I don't know. When I touched her, she...she was so warm. Like, feverish. She said it's cause she doesn't sleep. Like, rarely, she gets weird dreams, where something's always a little off and her body wakes her up and...she can't sleep.

[ She shrugs, helpless. ]

...I think the Wizard's doing something to her. I think... I don't know. But I think...she might be the way to get to him.

[mayavericks]

When we met up... after the first execution, I think it was... She was very unsteady on her feet. Less composed than usual.

[comeandfindme]

Maybe she's sick. Maybe the Wizard isn't doing something to her, but— but the way she looked...she wanted to tell me. But she couldn't. That doesn't sound like just being sick to me.

[mayavericks]

He has a grip on her. Magical, perhaps. If he can alter our memories, it isn't so surprising.

[fourbutts]

Yeesh, talk about gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss, Wizard, what the fuck?

[ She thinks for a moment. ]

Real magic... that might be narrator stuff. Un- The Balladeer taught me a couple things like that, and they'd be super impressive to someone who doesn't know about narrators.

[comeandfindme]

So...he might be like you and Bal? Is that how he's keeping like...Discord here?

[ She frowns. ]

He's quite the illusionist, at least. I took some pictures yesterday, trying to find...well, the ghosts, but instead— well, see for yourself. These are all supposed to be of the the forest, but it looks more like a junkyard.

[barberic]

I asked her if she needed help. She assured me that she didn't, but I made sure that she knew the option was open, if she needed us.

[It feels weirdly personal, the tone he takes when he continues:]

Men like him won't hesitate to throw away a young lady he claims to care about, when his hold over her is threatened. Whatever happens, we can't put her at risk.

[violentenvies]

I agree. She's in a precarious position between us and the Wizard, and a dangerous one at that. Whatever we do, we must be cautious about it.

[comeandfindme]

She said his whole...thing was because he gets emotional sometimes. ...I think that means he can be unpredictable. So, whatever we do...you're right. We gotta do it carefully.

[barberic]

[Benjamin gives a short, low growl in the back of his throat at the idea of the wizard getting emotional.]

And treating her as a key to getting to him won't work. He'll just turn on her when he thinks she's not his anymore.

[hm boy yeah that still sounds deep-seated.]

[comeandfindme]

...I wasn't thinking of it like that. I don't want her to get hurt either.

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice is quiet for a while, debating with herself on whether or not she wants to say this out loud. But Orpheus keeps stressing that they're all in this together, so she probably should. She'll just...de-personalize it, a little. ]

There's someone from my world who can do things like that, too. If you, um, take a job with him, he'll make you drink his water so that you forget stuff. Keeps his employees in line, I guess. But as long as you don't drink too much, I've heard some people can get their memories back if they reunite with someone they've forgotten.

[ a beat. whew, that was a lot. ]

Maybe the Wizard's magic has...a similar weakness.

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine bites her lip. ]

...Hester said she didn't really have many friends where she was from...or like, family she connected with. She said it was...small.

[ A small town, with a bunch of small-minded people. Something about it...was familiar to her. ]

[howtheworldwas]

[ That doesn't surprise Eurydice at all. It's honestly right in line with how Lord Hades runs his operation. ]

Yeah. I'm sure that helps out the Wizard a bunch. [ Eurydice frowns, disgusted. ] There's gotta be something out there important to her, though. Something that's helped her keep pushing forward.

[comeandfindme]

...She said she heard a lot of...conflicting reports about her mom? But— she'd died when she was just a baby.

[whatyouwant]

Okay, this may sound crazy...but what if we get her to one of these meetings?

[comeandfindme]

...No... No, it doesn't...sound crazy at all, actually.

[whatyouwant]

I don't think she'd come if we were all "Hey, we're having a secret meeting in the bathroom because it's the one place the Wizard doesn't spy on us!", but maybe if we...trick her? Like pretend there's an emergency or something!

[comeandfindme]

The last emergency that got her out of her office was— [ uhhhhhhhhh- ] I mean. How're we gonna do that without there being a body?

[disharmonizes]

Well, if no one is watching the place, how would she know there isn't one?

[defyingfrigidity]

[Hmmm...]

Do you think... the Wizard might be feeding off of her energy? Or... her life force? It's strange that he keeps her close by during every trial, even though he himself is observing us.

[comeandfindme]

Creepy. Super creepy idea, but... Maybe not off-base. Janis said it felt like—like he actually cared about her from the...vibes? She got from that bubble. But... Like, you can care and still hurt someone.

[defyingfrigidity]

[You can care and still hurt someone.

Those words make Elsa visibly flinch.]

You can care about someone, but sometimes you care about yourself, or your goals, more than them. And if you're desperate enough to protect those things...

[Mmmmmm.....]

And maybe at first.... she thought what he was doing to her was the only thing she could do to help him.

[comeandfindme]

...She said she didn't know. Just, like...everything that'd happened to him. I wonder how truthful he's been with her.

[defyingfrigidity]

I have no doubt that he's as truthful with her as he is with us.

[Which is to say, not at all.]

He likely spun the most sympathetic story he could muster to draw her in, and only stopped the act when it was too late for her to break away from him.