itscurtains | Week 7

[Last week, on It's Curtains...boy, that sure was a year-long week, huh?

But despite it all, you've gotten through it with less death than there might have been. Spongebob and Farrah both survived their ill-conceived plan; Maya, with the intervention of Janis and Hester, survived her triple murder. Since the failed execution, there has been no sign of the Wizard or of Hester. It seems like you may have gotten away with that cleanly!

When you wake up on Sunday, you remember everything. All the gaps, the missing pieces, entire chunks of time from back home - they're back and neatly fitted where they should be in your heads. Elle, Orpheus, and Eurydice have also been given graves alongside the others in the garden. These ones were filled in for you; after all, you were all pretty occupied over the weekend.

Other than that...it seems like some unusual posters have been put up around the school. Sounds like something's going to happen this week. You'd better prepare.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday

(( As per usual, endgame will ICly take place on Wednesday, so get those last threads in! As this is the last week, all characters should be at their true canonpoint memory-wise. Feel free to continue submitting regains and...well, you can certainly try to visit Hester. No AC this week, but be sure to check in for endgame! ))

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[What does she say? What does she say about any of this. No words would ever make this right. If the roles were reversed, if it were Janis or Peregrine that he had killed, only to live on, her fury would know no bounds. For her to continue to live on feels like an insult to Elle's memory and Angus's existence.

Silence would be the better option. She could finish the cake, he could finish his food, and they could both go their separate ways.

But instead --]

She should be the one here. Not me.

[Without stopping to think:] Yeah.

[Is that awful of him? Perhaps, but he would be a hyprocrite not to detest Maya for killing someone with the intent to do harm. If someone is a danger to themselves, the biggest thing you don't want to do is take their life. It's wrong. It's immortal. Angus would classify that under evil.

Spinel was vulnerable, and Angus killed her in her exposed state. When everyone at the trial realized he had succumbed to the nanite magic of the Knife of Evil, they correctly deemed him a monster and quickly voted that he face justice. He thanks them for their work in stopping him. Someone who kills the weak should not be allowed to live.

Each week, Angus wondered how so many deaths could have been prevented. That one moment - knowing how to properly treat hypothermia, deciding to help someone hurting instead of doing the hurting for them - could have changed everything. Perhaps they could have reached out to them. Perhaps it wouldn't have saved them completely, but it would at least give them their lives. Even Elle, already partially gone-

Mr. Barker's wife still recognized him. She had lost her mind from the poison, but she remembered him from so many years ago. She was still Lucy, not a stranger on the street. Even if Elle was no longer a genius lawyer, she was still Elle. A kind, brilliant, beautiful woman who loved to share her memories with Angus. A fiancee does not have to be perfect, she just has to love him and be loved in return.

He'd prefer her to be alive than perfect.]

[Despite everything, that makes Maya smile. It's humorless, even bordering on the bitter. But she hardly looks angry at his condemnation. Everyone had been so desperate to forgive her, to risk their lives for her, and it made her sick.

It had only gotten worse, with Hester's disappearance.]

I should have finished the job, when I had the blade to my neck. I wish I had. [She breathes out slowly. Her voice is calm, as if she's discussing the weather.] Regardless of whether I truly meant to harm Elle, whether or not I was in my right mind, I still killed her. The same for Orpheus, and to say nothing of Eurydice. Mercy should have been granted to someone who did so accidentally. For Varian, or for Sissi.

[Part of Angus tells her not to say such things. She assured him that they would escape the very first day they met. They trained together. Angus considered her a friend. It's the part that proves to himself that there is no lingering effect from the Knife. This anger is what comes from losing a loved one and finding no meaning in it.

Maya killing herself would be too easy. But she would be facing consequences. Peregrine and Janis would live with the fact that someone they loved betrayed them and feel incomplete; the price of Elle being avenged. Of all three being avenged.

LSP's offer of beating her up was something he should have followed up on.]

Do whatever you feel will make up for your crimes. I won't even consider forgiving you unless everyone comes back.

[He pulls out a bowl of soup, the last one remaining, and walks to the microwave to heat it up. He's stuck standing there for at least 2 more minutes.]

I do not want your forgiveness, Angus.

[She bends down, checking the oven for a moment. It feels like such an odd thing to do while having a conversation like this. She remains there though, with her injured leg carefully outstretched.]

Even if they come back, and I will make sure of it, I will not deserve it. I accept that.

[She stands back up, only to hobble past him and toward the fridge. Now that he's out of the way, she can grab the next few ingredients.]

But be that as it may, I do wonder -- what do you think happened, Angus? Do you think I planned this all out meticulously? That I watched Elle and knew I would kill her from moment one, and simply lay in wait for her to be vulnerable?

Believe me a murderer all you want. Believe me unforgivable. But do not think of me as the person who intentionally sought to prey on weakness.

Does it matter how you did it? You said you already made plans. You were ready. Few murders are plotted in detail, I know from what I've seen. It's all about seeing the opportunity or making the opportunity. It was late, people were tired and alone, you went to the roof, and you saw her.

She saw you. And she was weak.

[What did Elle do when she noticed Maya? Did she cry? Was she afraid? Did she regret what she did? How badly had the nightshade affected her? Was she doomed to Lucy Barker's fate?]

You approached her.

[Did she realize what was happening? Did the hallucinations offer her comfort? Did she welcome Maya, fear her?]

There in he garden
She stands very still

And you-

[How much effort did it take to push her off? How did it feel, shoving her and seeing her disappear? How did she fall past the rope that she and Angus climbed together? What happened the instant before she hit the ground, lying in the position he found her? Did she wish her prince was there to catch her?

The microwave beeps. Angus blinks back the tears.

Just like everyone else on Earth he couldn't save, Elle was gone and nothing could be done about it.]

Edited 2021-07-14 04:59 (UTC)

[That manages to get a rise out of her, likely the first spike of emotion she's felt since that day. Everything has felt so fuzzy and dull, like she's been looking through mist or a film. The only thing she's been able to process is the fact that somehow, she's alive despite the three bodies and one missing person in her wake.

But now, defiance surges within her. She turns to him, drawing herself up as close to her full height as possible. She's still smaller than him, but she recalls having managed to hold her own in a fight with him once. She's in far worse condition now but... It's probably fine.]

I made plans before I knew to value the lives here! Plans that bloomed and died weeks before any of this. They were considerations to save all of us, and I determined that it was not worth the sacrifice!

You are right, Angus. It was late, and I was tired. But I was also ill. I do not even remember going to the roof. I was in the stairwell, and I had the voice of a Wizard and a Goddess in my head! We were all sick and you know that!

Elle was one of the best of us. She helped me grow closer to Discord and Salieri-sensei. Hold her death against me all you want, but do not think for a second that I ever deliberately planned to harm her. If I had, I would not have worked to lay her and the others to rest as I did.

Week 7

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cw: suicide mention

cw suicide mention

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