Week Six

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, in It's Curtains, the weather changed, and with it your fortune in Dads. Discord took Salieri out - or perhaps Salieri took Discord out - and left the survivors with that much less impulse control. Nonetheless, a visit from a new friend might have provided a little bit of much-needed hope?

On Sunday morning, you'll find that the other side of the second floor has opened up - as well as the actual intended path to reach the roof garden. You can finally stop climbing up that rope every time you want to have a picnic or secret lover's rendezvous!

Outside, the weather seems to have calmed down. It's sunny again, with rather a lot of clouds. Though it's warm, the atmosphere seems very...still.]


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. ))

Comments

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ "Don't promise me fair sky above
Don't promise me kind road below
Just walk beside me, love
any way the wind blows"

For the first time in a very long time, Orpheus wakes up in the morning feeling hope, free and unfettered. Not just for his situation back home, but here, too. There's still work to be done, but - if he could sing Hades and Persephone into reconciling, even for a moment, if Nana could come and find all of them and bring them a message from the dead - maybe things will turn out this time. Maybe everything will be okay.

He wakes in Eurydice's arms in Longacre as he usually does these days, spending some time with her before splitting off to take a shower and wash his clothes in the sink in the boys' locker room, having still not figured out the washing machine and being a little intimidated by it. Afterwards, he'll get something to eat in the cafeteria and head out to the garden with his lyre guitar, where he'll speak to the seemingly empty air. ]

Hey, everyone. I don't... know if you can hear us? And I can't really hear you. But the Balladeer said he'd keep playing out here, for us, so I thought it was only fair that I play for you? So, here goes. This is one of the first songs my mother taught me. It seemed appropriate?

[ And he'll settle down on Antonio's bench and begin to play a slow melody, haunting yet peaceful and solemn, all at once.

Even later still, as afternoon turns into evening, he sets about exploring the new wing of the school with the intention of at least checking all the new rooms thoroughly but immediately finding himself drawn to the rooftop garden. Technically he could have gotten up there before? But climbing ropes is hard, and he'd also been a little distracted at the time. Now he's here, though, and he lies down on the ground near one of the raised beds of flowers, breathing in the scent of them and staring up at the sky. It's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay.]

Rooftop Garden

[employeeoftheyear]

[After investigating the costume room, Spongebob spent most of his day on the garden cuddling Gary.

When he sees Orpheus, he gets the barest smile on his face and he sits down next to him.]

Hi Orpheus, finally checking out the garden?

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus sits up when Spongebob comes over, smiling over at him. ]

Hi, Spongebob, hi - that's Gary, right?

[ He's seen the snail around before (and gods above, what a gigantic snail it is), but somehow he's never really talked to Spongebob about him. Better late than never, though, he guesses! ]

I couldn't really get up here very easily before. I'm not quite as good a climber as some of the rest of you. But it's really nice! I think I'll be spending a lot of time up here, when it's nice out.

[employeeoftheyear]

[Gary meows a hello and inches a little closer to him.]

I could have helped carry you up you know. It's a really nice place to just hand out, after all! It helps remind me of the good things in . It's especially pretty at night too.

1/2

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ did that snail just meow ]

2/2

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Actually that's fine, that's not the weirdest thing he's seen in the past few weeks. He shrugs off Spongebob's offer to carry him, not least because Spongebob is over a foot shorter than him and Orpheus has lifted him before. ]

I'm sure it is. I think I might spend the rest of the day out here, unless you and Gary wanted it for something. It's been a long time since I've seen this many flowers in one place.

[employeeoftheyear]

[He falls silent, holding Gary a little bit closer.]

I would like some company actually. I can tell you about all the flowers here.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Oh? What do you know about them? [ he asks, settling into a more comfortable position. Briefly, the thought of why a sponge from under the ocean knows about flowers on land crosses his mind, but he shrugs it off. Plenty of humans study plants that live under water! It's probably like that. ]

boy's locker room

[mcfife]

[Angus remains in a haze since the morning, and nothing has brought him back to his optimal state. It's hard to fight to be the strong, dependable prince when you remember what you can become when you let your guard down.

So he's been standing in the shower for 5 minutes straight, the cold rush of water forcing him to think about something else.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus only overheard some of the conversation Angus had with Nana, but he knows enough to have... some idea, of what it is he's so upset about. He looks over, from where he's wringing water out of his spare uniform jacket, frowning. It feels a little awkward, intruding on him while he's in the shower, but it kind of seems like he needs it. ]

Angus? Are you, um. [ 'Okay' is not the word he's looking for, here. It's kind of hard to be okay right now, even considering what they learned yesterday. ] How are you doing, today?

[mcfife]

[That long groan can answer a lot.]

I remember killing her.

[He leans his head into the stream of water.]

It's nothing like the slaying of undead forces of evil.

[themuseabandonsyou]

... Spinel, right? The one Nana talked about.

[ Orpheus throws the spare jacket and shirt over the locker room's bench to dry and leans against the lockers, brows furrowed. ]

But, she said you were cursed, didn't she? It wasn't - you.

[mcfife]

[A nod.]

The Knife of Evil is one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe, on the same level of magic as the Hammer of Glory. To imagine that such an infection can be entirely eradicated...

[He grips his side, where no scar tissue lies. The blade is magic, after all. It leaves no physical mark. But that is where he felt a blow from Zargothrax during their battle. That must have been where it struck him.]

If I change, Orpheus, and I go too far. Promise me that you will lock me up. Kill me, if we have escaped the Wizard's clutches.

[themuseabandonsyou]

No.

[ The answer comes without even having to think about it, firm and resolute. ]

When we get out of here, we'll find a way to make sure that never happens to you again. I told you, I know some of the gods of my world. I can call in favors. If anyone can undo a curse like that, it's them.

[ He's certain of it. And even if they can't, there are so many other worlds out there, more than he's ever imagined. Surely there has to be a cure in one of them - if Angus is even still afflicted, like he suspects. ]

You're not going to hurt any of us, Angus. And you're not going to die, either.

longacre

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice tends to like to let Orpheus sleep as late as possible, but this morning, she's shaking him awake, not caring whether or not he's awake already. ]

Orpheus. Orpheus. [ Eurydice is smiling, and unlike Friday, her eyes are bright and clear. ] Orpheus, he let us go.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus is usually up fairly early, but today Eurydice manages to get the jump on him, and he blinks awake, blearily. ]

He did? [ he asks, still half-asleep, before it sinks in just what Eurydice is saying. Look at him. He can't say no. Orpheus sits bolt upright, eyes wide with shock and hope. ] He did? Eurydice, that's - we really did it?

[howtheworldwas]

[ Eurydice nods, ecstatic, and takes both his hands. ]

He did! He -- it's a little weird, because we have to walk out single file? But we're almost out of there. We're so close, and the hard part is already over. You did it.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ That is weird, but Orpheus is too overjoyed by the notion that they're almost out to really register it. He throws his arms around Eurydice, elated and relieved. ]

We did it! We really did. Oh, Eurydice, we can go home. If we could convince Lord Hades, we all can stop the Wizard too, I'm sure of it.

[howtheworldwas]

[ She holds him close, her smiling dissolving into joyous, ectsatic laughter. ]

Oh, definitely. I don't think the Wizard is nearly as powerful. And we've got everyone else here to help.

[themuseabandonsyou]

Right!

[ And they've got Maya's and the Balladeer's friends looking out for them, too. Which he almost says out loud, before remembering that the walls have ears. Still, things are, for the first time in a long time, looking like they might turn out okay. ]

I can't believe it's really almost over. I don't know what I would've done, if I hadn't been able to bring you home, but now? There's so much I want us to do together, and I won't take a single moment of it for granted. I promise.

rooftop garden

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine sits on the roof, watching the clouds roll by. She doesn't care to do anything else, unfortunately, so...it might be awhile before Orpheus realizes she's there, unless he's attentive. ]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ The sun's just barely starting to paint the clouds in pastel pinks and oranges by the time Orpheus sits up and stretches, glancing around and noticing that he has company. ]

Oh! Hi, Peregrine. [ He calls, waving. ] How long have you been there?

[comeandfindme]

[ How long? ...The clouds have moved quite a bit. A little helplessly, she shrugs. ]

Awhile? I'm not really keeping track of time.

[themuseabandonsyou]

That's fair. [ Keeping time in his head has never been Orpheus's strong suit, he can't really judge. He gets up, heading over to sit down next to her. He watches her carefully for a moment, before turning his gaze skyward again. ] It's nice, isn't it? Being able to watch the sunset like this.

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine, however, isn't watching the sky. Not really. ]

I wonder if it's real. The sky. The stars aren't. The woods aren't.