itscurtains | OVERTURE

Entry tags:

act 1,
week 1

OVERTURE

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.

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...Where exactly are you from?

[She shakes her head, crossing her arms as she thinks.]

Why would we be here if they were just going to let us go? It probably took some effort to get us here, not to mention learn everything they put in the booklet.

[Which is a horrifying thought to her - how long were they watched in order to compile all of this information?]

Arendelle. What about you?

[She hasn't even cracked open her booklet.]

It could all be some practical joke. Though... how they were able to get past the guards to get to me in the first place is rather impressive.

Is that, like, a really small town in Europe somewhere? I'm from the United States.

[She shakes her head.]

I don't have any friends who are into practical jokes, and this is way too extreme for a prank, anyways. [A short pause.] Wait, guards?

[She shakes her head. Neither of those places sounded familiar.]

It's a country.

[She nods at that.]

Yes! I'm a princess.

...Okay, you're joking, right?

[Because neither of those things sound true to her. She's never heard of that country, and the royalty part brings forth questions, too.]

Yes! I'm Princess Anna of Arendelle!

[She's even going to curtsy.]

Yeah, uh, I'm not sold on that. I mean, kidnapping royalty makes sense, but if that's the theme they were going for they way missed the mark with some of us.

[She gestures to herself.]

I'm not exactly the princess type.

Maybe... you're valuable to someone else? I mean, if it was a kidnapping, they'd have all sorts of reasons to kidnap who the do!

I mean, sure, but it's not like my family's as loaded as yours probably is.

[Not that she thinks they would be too concerned if she went missing, but she's going to leave that out.]

[Loaded? Loaded with what?]

Doesn't mean you're not important. Everyone has someone that wants them to be safe.

Right. I mean, uh, thanks, but that's not really what I was saying.

[She's not used to someone being so kind to her right off the bat, so she looks a little confused as she says that before moving on.]

So. Any guesses as to why we're here?

[Seeing as no other explanation is being offered, she decides that following up on that might not be a good thing.]

All I have to go on are books... so maybe a strange kind of trust exercise with strangers?

Books you found here somewhere, or books from your... palace or whatever?

[A pause as she grows more skeptical.]

Also, why would they bring us here for a trust exercise?

Castle. We have a huge library there, even though I've read most of the over and over again. Thirteen years of being stuck on one place does that to a person.

[Well sorry she's from a magical, made up place that is totally real to her.]

Well... what else would kidnappers do?

Are we talking, like, some Rapunzel situation going on here? I mean, you were allowed to leave, right?

[Sadly, her life has been sorely lacking in Disney Princess tropes, so she pauses for a moment in surprise once more.]

I don't think I've ever heard about someone kidnapping a group of people for a trust exercise. Usually it's not as nice as that.

You know Rapunzel? I've only just met her today- well, before I came here! She and her husband Eugene came for my sisters coronation.

[Disney princess knows a Disney princess and everything is okay.]

... what do they usually do?

Um, I know her as in I know the fairy tale, because basically everyone does. The prince comes, she tosses her hair down, all that stuff. You sound like you know her know her, though.

[That's bizarre to her, and she figures she has more important things to focus on, so she moves on after a moment.]

Usually it involves some kind of criminal activity. I mean, not that kidnapping itself isn't a criminal activity, but you get it.

A fairy tale? Wait, did someone write a story about her? That's so exciting! [She lets out a soft snort.] And no, Eugene wasn't a princes until he married her. She's the princess of Corona.

[Criminal activity- She frowns as she thinks about it.]

You don't think... they'll try and hurt us?

A story about her? Uh... Yeah, probably.

[Time to move on before she becomes even more confused.]

I have no idea. I mean, given the fact that I can't remember how I got here and I'm betting I'm not the only one, the odds are that they've already pulled some shady shit.

[It's so exciting. Will someone write a story about Anna one day? No... she's too boring.]

It'd explain my clothes. I don't remember ever wearing these. I know I was in my coronation gown standing next to my sister. [... OH NO SHE'S HOPING THIS KIDNAPPER WAS A WOMAN OTHERWISE THIS WOULD BE A SCANDAL AND SHE COULD NEVER GET MARRIED]

...Okay, not going to think about the implications of that one for too long.

[Because she's in different clothing than she remembers, too. Yikes.]

Anyways. Coronation?

[It's not that she doesn't like these clothes, they're just... not what she's used to. And the boots? Okay, those are cute. Made for winter obviously.]

Yes. My sister was crowned queen!

[It isn't that much of a stretch from princess, she guesses, but it's still weird to think about.]

I bet she's excited about that.

[That's a good question...]

I think she's more nervous than anything...

Doesn't she have, like, advisors or whatever?

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