It's a sad song - It's a sad tale

[musacal]

[ WELL THAT... HAPPENED, HUH. YO WHAT THE FUCK DISCORD THAT'S BALLER.

Good thing the Wizard's probably going to be occupied with THAT for a while longer because it looks like this long ass, nogood day isn't quite over yet as there's still one more incoming curve ball. In contrast to the smell of smoke from the auditorium there seems to be a... sweet, banana-y baked good smell coming from the cafeteria? But who could have been baking while you were all at the trial--

If you go in there or even just pass by at all, you'll find on one of the tables there's a plate with several warm and fresh banana muffins. Underneath the plate, just sticking out enough so that you can see a corner peeking out, is a folded up note:


You are not alone. I'm here to help.
I'll be waiting for everyone in the
girl's washroom on the first floor.

Come and find me.
-a friend

At the bottom of the note is a small, hand drawn banana. The handwriting and muffins might look familiar to two of you.

...soooooooo you up for a meeting after all that shit? ]

Comments

[brokeforgood]

Of fucking course she killed someone else! She's a fucking monster!

[mayavericks]

[Maya swallows. She at least has the decency to let go of Angus -- he's not her target, after all. Instead, her hand falls to her blade, clutching it tight. She probably sounds a little bit like Nana had, rattling her blade away.]

Farrah was right then. [Her voice is dangerously low.] A completely psychopathic walking college admissions essay of a bitch, indeed.

[She clears her throat.]

What happened was not your fault, Nana. You cannot be held liable for it. Only the true culprit should be. [Though... she pauses there.] Hester told me that Claudine made it out and went home. Was that a lie, then?

[mcfife]

Then why did they kill me? Riley was the culprit -

[Oh no.]

Unless we voted incorrectly.

[musacal]

[ .............

She whispers, under her breath, but Maya can probably hear it: ]

...Would you have said that about me once, I wonder?

[ There's a look in her eyes. Something serious and cold. She would... very much appreciate no more talk about Riley. ]

...That was not a lie.

All of our dead came back to life when our time there concluded.

[ Another pause and then, ]

I should stress to you though that the conditions that made that possible were... special.

[musacal]

We did not.

Riley-chan tried to kill Spinel-san as well, but was unaware that she could continue to regenerate unless her gem was shattered.

You came along and smashed Spinel-san's gem.

[barberic]

Five weeks now, going into six.

[He seems...affected, by her openness about struggling to find a place where she belongs, about feeling unloved, about projecting fatherhood onto a man who threw away the title.]

I'm sorry, that you had to go through this experience as well.

How many weeks were you trapped by him?

[barberic]

[At the mention of making deals to bring back the dead, Farrah will feel Benjamin go very still and very stiff, at her side.]

[mcfife]

Why?!

[The motive - bring one person back from the dead. But he was taken right after entering the portal, could he even have considered killing anyone to bring back the residents of Earth?]

Did I want The Hootsman back that badly...?

[mayavericks]

[Maya grits her teeth, just a little. That isn't true, she could never say that about Nana.

... She probably would never say that about Nana. But after having her crown stolen, after being forced to relive the same moment of loss again and again... If she had actually been able to recall it, instead of a passing memory, perhaps she would have.

Her hands clench into tighter fists, knuckles white against skin, before she finally breathes out. Regardless of any of this, there are more important things to focus on. The dead can come back.]

It does not matter how special the conditions were. We will make it possible here. Just tell us how.

[brokeforgood]

[She's gonna just pretend it's for her benefit that he's stiffening.

Actually, it's Farrah, she probably believes it. She pats his arm twice.]

Seriously. Fucking bitch.

[barberic]

[It's all he can do to keep his breathing under control, at the sound of Sissi's voice. How long had it been since he'd heard her? God, since he'd cut her hair? It feels like years.

What he wouldn't give, to again be the man he was when he'd met her.]

[musacal]

About seven. We only had five trials, if you exclude our final confrontation with the Phantom.

[ She thinks on it for a moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek. ]

My understanding that this is... the average timeline for these kinds of things. A week of peace. Five weeks of death. And then a final climax. Though there are exceptions.

[ Casting a sidelong 4th wall breaking glance at DRRP R2 ]

...I'm sorry. If I could have come sooner I... please believe I would have. In a heartbeat.

[musacal]

[ She shakes her head. ]

I... don't think it had anything to do with the motive.

[ Her memory of this is... not the greatest because honestly she kinda blacked out a little but-- ]

I think you just did it because you could? Or... to be accurate...

Whatever that evil knife did to you was what did it.

[barberic]

[Her hand patting his arm startles him into looking down at her, but at her words he has nothing to say. Her affection is for a different man. A man who thought he was good. A man who died in Australia, who died again when his enemy swore to remove his daughter from his reach forever.

If she knew the monster he was, he knew, she would tar him with the same brush as this 'Riley,' without hesitation.

But, God help her, she needs someone. He can't leave her alone, not after she's lost everyone else she was closest to, over the last two weeks.

Damn you, Antonio.]

[brokeforgood]

[Her mouth twists slightly with dissatisfaction at his silence. She's tired of everyone who seems to dismiss her anger, who won't join her in her rage against Riley-- especially the way Nana talks-- like it's not bad enough that she has to be the girl that fell, but she also has to be the girl that Riley killed.

After all of it-- even after she's been brought back-- by Riley's hand, or by the Leading Player's, or the Wizard's.

She's still that hopeless loser girl who no one understands.

But even with her rage left in solitude, she needs something to hold onto. So she leans against him, closes her eyes, and tries to think of a life without cheerleading.]

[musacal]

...I don't think it is possible at all anymore with those conditions, is the thing.

The Phantom... it was actually the SQUIP all along. A different version of the same SQUIP that was here with you guys before. And the reason the victims were able to participate in the executions is because it was repairing their bodies with nanites. It was reviving them on its own, trying to make them better but they... at first they came back wrong.

It was fixed in the end and their souls returned to their bodies but... while that SQUIP still exists as a gem like Spinel-san now, it's lost access to nanites. If the dead are to be brought back again, it can't be through those means, and I don't think my Boss could do it for this big a group even if you did make deals with her - especially since she's stuck over there with them.

[barberic]

... [He glances at Maya again, then back at Nana, and finally his expression softens into a small smile.]

I believe you, Miss Daiba. Because you're a friend of Maya's. She's been one of--

No, she's been the most reliable person here. I'm grateful to count anyone she considers her friend as one of our allies.

[But, he's also noticed the way she's been rattling her sword when she's upset.]

...Were you, perhaps, listening in on our last meeting, my dear?

[mayavericks]

The Wizard has to have the ability. Farrah would not be here if not for that. We simply have to figure out how he has managed that.

[That's all she'll say about that, though.]

[mayavericks]

[Across the way, Maya glances toward him. It doesn't last, but... for a brief moment, she looks stricken.]

[mcfife]

[evil knife, she must mean-]

The Knife of Evil? [Some here might recognize that name.] Hester said that it's magic was removed...no, that was after Zargothrax died.

[The photo from this week. Then did it really happen?]

But how? Did they use the knife on me on the opera house?

[If he's still alive...what about its curse?]

[stagemanagers]

[After Sissi next is someone with pink hair, tightly holding Varian's hand.

Her voice is soft and awkward, so a solid chunk of what she says is lost to the audio quality but becomes crystal clear with:]

Rina-chan Board says—

[But wait, she doesn’t even have the board anymore. She looks down, unsure what to do before gripping Varian’s hand again for support and looking back up.]

Rina-chan says… “I love you!”

[Beside her Varian glances at her and grips her hand tighter as he starts to softly sing, just loud enough to be heard.

Show the way so we can see
Show the way the world could be

[She glances back to him as well and sings back:]

If they can do it, so can she
If she can do it, so can we
Show the way

[And then together:]

Show the way the world could be
Show the way so we believe
We will follow where you lead
We will follow with you
Show the way

[musacal]

[ Did. Did you hear what she said about Farrah-- you know what she's not bringing it back up.

She finally smiles again. ]

And even if we can't... I'll just keep travelling the multiverse some more until I find one.

Even if it takes years or costs me my own life... they deserve to be back with their family - with all of you.

The love that they have for you all... it's truly dazzling.

[musacal]

I'm not... entirely sure. It did come out of the Merchandise Booth at one point if I remember right but I think... I think that curse was on you when you arrived. I think it's only gone because of how the SQUIP repaired your body.

Either way you had been... planning on doing something. We found a list of possible targets and everything. Even I was at the top of the list because you didn't know about my own capabilities yet.

[mayavericks]

[Listen. She's been going between several conversations here and hasn't quite processed the "revived just to be brought back into murderhell" bit, thank you. That's what we're going with, please protect this intelligent woman from my lack of braincells.]

You should not have to shoulder this burden alone, Nana.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

They have it down to a science huh...

[Something roils and turns over in Cassandra's stomach. An uncomfortable feeling.

She doesn't want to be suspicious of this girl, who seemed to be going so far out of her way to help them... but she's been burned before. She still doesn't fully trust it, but her expression is... slightly softer.]

If we're nearing the climax, shouldn't we try to stop this before that happens?