OVERTURE

[stagemanagers]

You wake up, and realize you don’t remember how you got here.

This bed is soft and warm, but it’s certainly not yours. And the room is unfamiliar - unless perhaps you’re an actor, seeing as it looks almost exactly like every dressing room in the world. It's not quite large enough to fit the bed and trunk comfortably alongside the vanity, but it what it lacks in open space, it makes up for in coziness. This could be something you’ve seen in a movie, or dreamed about experiencing one day. But whatever the case, you aren’t supposed to be here.

There’s a silver key resting on your vanity, along with a thin program booklet. The cover - where the name of the show would usually be - is blank, but if you flip through it, you’ll find some startlingly familiar information. Maybe a few familiar faces as well…

The hallway outside is narrow and poorly-lit, lined with star-studded doors. But if you make your way past them and out into the lobby, you’ll find something entirely different: an elegant, refined opera house. Crystal chandeliers glitter overhead, and the red carpet is perfect for putting on a show. A large clock on the northern wall marks the time, though with the windows shuttered and locked it's difficult to tell whether it's morning or night. There’s also some framed information pinned up that you might find helpful. If you explore further into the adjoining wings, in fact, you'll see there's an identical copy in every room.

There’s also two sets of double-doors in the lobby: one leading back the way you came, deeper into the Opera House, and one leading out. For the moment, neither of them will open.

It looks like you’re stuck. But hey - at least you aren’t alone.

Comments

OTA!!!!

[sunshineprincess]

[Anna, upon waking up, thought she was still dreaming. She was a rather heavy sleeper, but this? She's explored the entire castle so she knows this isn't the servants quarters. And that mirror with the strange lights? She had stood to check them out, caught her skirt on the trunk, and came crashing down.

She rubs her new sore spots, knowing they might bruise later. After a few more moments of checking out the room, she emerges, rubbing the tips of her right hand with thumb. Those strange glass lights were a lot hotter than they looked. She's standing in front of her door to check out just what this hallway was about.]

Why are there numbers on the door?

[A little while later Anna was walking into the lobby, head very much in the booklet. It's clear she's on her own page as she stops and crumples the booklet in her hands.]

I am not slightly disheveled!

[superboyisalive]

Probably they're there to make sure we don't wander into someone else's room.

[There's a teenage boy lazily leaning against a door jamb, lost in thought.]

Or possibly someone just likes organization. That's also a good possibility.

[sunshineprincess]

[She looks from this stranger to her door behind her. Sure enough, there was a number. Seems her room is 18. Good to know.

Her gaze returns to him and she does a quick once over.]

... you're not from Arendelle, are you.

[superboyisalive]

Nope. Haven't actually heard of the place, sorry. Is that in Pennsylvania?

[Sounds like the kinda of weird-ass town name that you'd find out east. He just smiles a bit.]

It's probably more interesting than my city. We just get a lot of rain.

[rockthistown]

I know! These profiles are just rude! If I knew that the people running this show would make the program so mean--

[Hime shuts up and looks Anna over, then starts to shrink back.]

Are you from the new group, or...? This is Harmonia, right? I just must have slept through getting here...? help

[sunshineprincess]

They don't even add what this person who's trying to be me even looks like!

[Anna blinks as the girl- flips through the booklet- Hime moves away.]

Harmonia? Never heard of it. Is it a performance group?

[rockthistown]

It's a place my friends and I were invited to sing at, but I just remember getting the invitation. All of a sudden, I woke up here!

[dontfeedplants]

[Hey Anna, here's a guy who couldn't help but notice you crumbling up your booklet.]

S... shouldn't you be more worried about why they know so much about us?

[He had not looked at Anna's profile in detail but the fact that this booklet knows about their life and personality kind of creeps him out.]

[sunshineprincess]

Hm? [Anna thinks it over before shaking her head.]

Not really. I'm a princess so of course people are going to know about me. Isn't it like that for everyone?

[dontfeedplants]

A princess? [Oh gee that's someone famous. Luckily he is worried enough that he is able to ignore being flustered over the fact she might be meeting royalty.

There was a small chance she could be lying anyway.]

No, I'm just a florist! I mean, I discovered a plant that a lot of people seem to like, but that's not enough for someone to be able to write up this much about me

[robitussin]

Is that really your first question? Numbers on the doors?

[To her, it seems much less important than how and why they were brought here, so she gives Anna a curious look.]

[sunshineprincess]

[She's curious about her surroundings.]

No. I had plenty of questions when I was still in my room, like how those candles are in glass but they don't have a flame. Or why I was in a room that doesn't even look like the servant quarters back home. But the numbers have to mean something!

[robitussin]

Uh, it's called a lightbulb. Electricity. You do know what that is, right?

[The idea that they could be from different time periods hasn't crossed her mind yet, despite the odd (to her, at least) clothing some of the other people here are wearing.]

Even if they matter now, they aren't going to matter once we find a way out. I would start thinking about that instead.

[solomonjihad]

[Astarte looks up at Anna as she speaks her protest about her level of dishevelment. She had been looking at her own entry how could it know that part and she quietly closes hers.

...Right, this...human? She looks human. She's looking distressed. Fit in with the humans was her mission at the school, right? Spy on them, learn about them. She can do the same for this human. She can be perfectly normal for a human!

So, she takes a breath and speaks, as confidently as someone who has just met humans in this kind of unexpected situation can be.]

Its ok to be disheveled slightly.

[...Did that work?]

[sunshineprincess]

[She jumps a bit and looks over at the person who spoke. With a quick flip through the booklet she notes that this girls name is Astarte. The rest sounds really weird.... so she's going to skip over that for now.

She lets out a sigh and tries to fix the clothes she doesn't even remember putting on.]

Easy for you to say. A princess is supposed to look prim and proper all the time, not disheveled.

[solomonjihad]

[Weird doesn't even begin to. do it justice.

She looks a bit surprised, though, at the admission.1]

You're...

[...probably in the pamphlet. She quick goes to look, then looks at Anna.]

You are a princess?

[trettende]

[ Gosh, Hans would know that voice anywhere!! Why, it's his true love!! Hans makes his way to her as soon as he sees her in the lobby. ]

Anna! I'm so glad you're not hurt!

[ Boy, I sure hope she remembers him or this would be super awkward!! ]

[sunshineprincess]

[Anna stands up straight when she hears a familiar voice. Oh! Oh, she's so glad someone she knows is here, even if they met under... unusual circumstances.]

Prince Hans! I'm fine. Everyone here's been rather nice to me.

[Even if she thinks that someone in this place doesn't believe she's a princess.]

[trettende]

Oh, good. I was so worried when I saw your name and face on that pamphlet.

[ Hans is quick to rush to stay at her side. Don't they just look cute together. ]

You're sure you're not hurt? Do you have any idea how we could've ended up here?

[irreprochable]

[this is, unfortunately, after javert has met hans, a sad circumstance for pretty much everyone involved here. but being duped by royalty aside, javert really means no harm to anna though he has been keeping an eye out for her for the better part of the afternoon, at least among his other exploring. I imagine it was a fairly comedic scenario - the sort of one person going out one door another one coming in, etc. but finally, at long last -- ]

Princess Anna?

[it's hard to mistake a girl with such striking red hair, even if she is ...lacking the normal grace royalty affords. it's no matter. he walks up to her in a matter of a few steps, which might look a little intimidating because intimidating was what he meant to be and the "smile" he's trying to sport doesn't do much for the whole thing, either.]

Your royal highness, I was asked to find you.

[sunshineprincess]

[Anna stops to see who is addressing her and lets out a squeak. Oh no why is this man getting so close to fast and should she run? Instead she tries to for some reason make herself look taller by standing straighter. Is it working?]

Y-Yes?

[... that is a terrifying smile.]

You were? And who might you be?

[irreprochable]

[it is not working, but it gets an A for effort.]

I am Javert, your royal highness. I was sent on behalf of Prince Hans.

[onthebusagain]

[Anna isn't the only one annoyed by the pamphlet. Heather happens to be passing by during Anna's outburst, and she puffs out her cheek in annoyance at the reminder. ]

And I don't just follow in other people's footsteps! I was so excited to be in a magazine, but it's not even a good gossip rag.

[sunshineprincess]

[Oh, it's... quick, look through the booklet... Heather! Like the flowers?]

Huh? Magazine? Gossip rag? What are those?

[onthebusagain]

[Uncool, Anna!]

Don't look at that! And you know- they look like that, they're always beside the checkout stand at grocery stores. How could you not know what a magazine is?