itscurtains | don't stop believing

[Streetlights, reveals] | [Vision Statements] | [Mass Resolution: CONNECT] | [A little touch of the sun (Revival)] | [They do this bullshit like 8 times a week (Rescue)]

[It's a pleasant afternoon in the garden. Maybe not emotionally, but physically - isn't it nice when you get to have class outside?

As your voices rise, singing defiance in unison out for the Wizard, there's no immediate response; at least, nothing that clearly is a response. But there's something. Amidst the sound of your song, it may be hard to hear at first; Janis will likely be the first to notice, but eventually everyone is able to hear. It sounds as though other voices are rising along with yours.

There's something on the air - no music, or at least no instrumentals, just a disembodied sort of lyrical chant. You don't recognize any of the voices. They aren't singing the same song as you all are. Maybe they can't; they sound long long ago, and far far away now. Still - despite everything - the trees around you move lightly in a sudden soft breeze. It feels as though you have invoked something, old and entirely beyond your knowledge.

But first. Haven't you forgotten something?

It's Wednesday.

Welcome to this week's school club!]

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Um.

.....I know I hardly have any stones to throw here however...[Maya oh my god]

I wanted to kill the Wizard. Dragging a trial out was the only way I could think to get at him.

It was a terrible idea.

[....]

Sometimes terrible ideas can seem very much like actual possibilities in times of duress.

You can say that again.

Still I am... Sorry to have disappointed you again.

You...

[...right. He's just...going to walk over and gently set a hand on her shoulder]

...you didn't, Maya, that's...[he shakes his head]

...I'm not disappointed in you. I never have been.

I -- Killed three people, Salieri-sensei. Three very good people.

You did. And I nearly got everyone killed by manipulating my boyfriend into murdering me and then taking the fall for an incredibly stupid, idiotic plan that had no business even being a plan in the first place. [a bit dryly--he can't help it. But then he huffs.]

If anything, I should be apologizing for disappointing you.

You're... Terrible at scolding me, you know that?

[At that, Salieri can't help but huff out a small chuckle, but both his expression and his tone soften, at that]

From what I hear, Benjamin has done more than a good job of that himself. And I'm sure that you received more than your fair share of scoldings, Maya. [he smiles a little, tentative]

I...simply wanted to tell you that I've missed you. Terribly. And you did so well today, and I'm so very proud of you.

[Maya's expression wobbles, dangerously close to grief-stricken. She remains still, simply staring at Salieri for a long few moments, processing his words -- his acceptance.

And then she hobbles across the few feet separating them and throws her arms around his shoulders.]

I've missed you.

[oh--Maya hobbles towards him and throws her arms around him and Salieri is immediately wrapping her up in a very tight hug, holding her close, one hand cradling the back of her head gently as something clenches, hard, in his chest]

I'm so glad you're alright. [his throat is tight, and it comes out more hoarse than he means it to] When you didn't show up, I--we didn't know what had happened to you, and I had hoped-- [he has to clear his throat, swallowing hard, sucking in a watery breath]

Everyone keeps saying that -- That they hoped that I had made it free. [She leans her head against his shoulder, sniffing wetly as she does. It's warm here, and she finally feels safe.]

I should have been there. I deserved to be there.

[oh boy kiddo does he understand that guilt. He's quiet for a moment, just holding her, rubbing a hand in soothing circles on her upper back, then asks:] What happened?

I was sick, Salieri. I heard voices, and they told me I could finish all of this if I just... acted. I pushed Elle from the roof, I slit Orpheus's throat and then I woke up. They were dead, and I... just wanted to honor them properly, before it was too late. I was going to turn myself over once I was done, but -- Eurydice saw me and tried to attack me. I tried to tell her to stand down, so that no one else would die but me. I didn't want her to suffer what the Wizard had planned, so I killed her too.

[The words start coming out faster, even as they make her ache with their weight.]

And at that point I was so angry that I knew it had to stop. I was going to attack the head, do whatever I could to bring the game to an end -- I just had to convince him that I wasn't trying to get on the stage for that purpose. And if I managed to convince the others that it wasn't me, maybe I could make things right and ask the Wizard to send me back to the Revues! I could take us back to your stage, and simply... prevent the murders before they happened. We would still know each other, and we would have been so much stronger.

So I... attacked myself. Left myself for dead like the others, so that they would not suspect me.

[Salieri is quiet as he listens, just holding her, safe and secure. She was tricked into the first two by the Wizard's motive. Eurydice is...it may not have been a good decision, but he can certainly more than understand the emotion that motivated it. He's quiet for a moment.]

You were trying to find a way to save everyone. [gently]

don't stop believing

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