graveyard

[productions]

the theatre



You awaken in a darkened theatre.

In front of you is an enormous cinema screen. On it plays everything that's currently happening in the castle, accompanied by appropriate sound effects and background instrumentals when fitting. The seat you're sitting on is large and plush, and while there's many of them, there's enough room in the theatre for you to fully recline the seat into a comfortable bed if you wish. Under each seat is a sleeping mask and noise-cancelling headphones, in case you'd like to take a break from watching the show.

Follow the stairs up and you'll reach what should be the projection room. There are no projectors in here, however; it is simply a large and well-lit room above the main seating area, and a good place to hang out with your fellow eliminated contestants if shouting at each other across the aisles proves too much to handle.

If you leave the theatre through the door in the back, you'll find yourself in a hall. On one end is a concession stand. It's stocked with standard movie snacks - popcorn, candy and the like - but if you're feeling the urge for something else, you'll be able to find it stocked somewhere in the back. On the other end is a table with thirty wrapped bags and a placard reading 'A star for our stars! Please accept these lovely giftbags as a token of appreciation for your hard work, sponsored by [illegible smudge]'. Each bag has a tag bearing the name of someone in the mansion; you will only be able to open the bag with your name on it. As soon as you open it, any memories that have been taken from you, including those of the other people in the mansion that you may have forgotten, will be returned in their entirety. Within the bag are also objects from your home that you may want for your stay here, though you will find no weapons.

Past the hall is another door, this one wooden and seemingly decayed. If you go inside, you'll find a fairly simple, wooden room, that is empty except for a very large machine. It is difficult to tell what the machine is for; it has a touch screen that appears to be a control panel, as well as a large open space that seems to be part of the machine, but the machine is dead and won't turn on no matter what you do.

Still, at least you aren't alone here. You have your fellow players, as well as a few guests to keep you company.

Oh, and one more thing. At midnight following each execution, once all those who've died that week have woken up, a video will begin to play on screen.

Comments

[perfectstrike]

Do not speak of him in such a way!

[So she's an idiot then. Incredible. Both hands clench into fists at her side as she turns away from the bags to face him completely. Someone less controlled than she might have started shaking, but she's not quite that emotional. Not just yet, anyway.]

[onethirdthesoul]

[Ryou actually looks pretty stern now. If he wants to get through to her, he'll have to be.]

If he confronted them personally, wouldn't they have just denied it? They're still denying it now, but at least this way, they know that everybody knows--and nobody's against them!

Please, Peko-chan... Don't say something like that. Enough people have died.

[perfectstrike]

No. They are not denying it. Did you listen to them?

The young master never once said, 'no, I am not part of that group.' He did not deny it. Why did he not deny it?

[Also her conversation with Phoenix has to do with this too. The last question is actually pointed toward Ryou. Come on, murdertwin. Figure it out. Don't make her say it.]

If someone should be killed, and if one of these people were on the suspect list, is it not easier to assume that they must have been the killer? All a killer needs to do is frame one of these people, then force the trial to run out of time. If that is his strategy--!!

[onethirdthesoul]

Well he didn't confirm-- [Ryou starts, but then stops as Peko goes on. He's speechless for a moment, his eyes wide as he tries to find a loophole.]

I... No. Why would Sebastian-san do that? I won't deny that somebody might try to frame him, but wouldn't that be obvious to everyone else, too? Every trial, we've worked our hardest to find out the truth. They wouldn't jump to conclusions like that!

[Nevermind the fact Ryou tried to frame Feferi, of all people. Hindsight is 20/20.]

[perfectstrike]

Feferi managed it week two. We ran out of time, and executed who we thought to be the most likely person.

How many times since my death has the point been raised during a trial that one could kill someone who is likely to kill, rather than punish the true culprit?

I knew Michaelis was not to be trusted the moment he revealed his incentive during my trial. He is taking advantage of a situation in a way that will harm my young master. That is unacceptable.

[mightiswright]

[ It's like watching a train wreck as Apollo's announcement goes on, and Phoenix doesn't look anywhere but straight at the screen. When Peko stands and gets moving, he immediately follows suit to wherever she's headed. He won't say a word until they're alone though. ]

It'll be harder now for them. [ Just short of impossible, frankly. ]

[perfectstrike]

[The projection room seems to be the least likely place they can be overheard, since her attempt to get to Kuzuryuu's regain bag was doomed to failure from the start. Peko leans against a wall near the door, watching the screen through the small windows, as well as the door itself to listen for anyone who might be following them up.]

...What can they do?

[onethirdthesoul]

It's been brought up, but it never happens! I was still executed, wasn't I?!

[He flinches a little. It was a sore spot, but he never wanted Feferi to die for him anyway. Still, the memory of that day...]

He's not trying to hurt Kuzuryuu-kun, he's just trying to help. He's always been a lot of help, why would he be trying to do something like that now?

[mightiswright]

... I don't know. [ His main concern is still the way Nanami's reacting to all of this. 'Only the Mastermind should have to die'...? ]

The moment people see them on the suspect list, they'll already be heavily suspected, whether or not they actually did it. [ There's a lot of conflict going on in this beanied head... On one hand, full disclosure means more heads together working on saving everyone. On the other hand, everyone in the group is essentially done for if they can't find a way to screw the show over. ]

[perfectstrike]

Because people think he is so very helpful.

[She almost sounds spiteful, actually, but she seems to realize and takes a moment to breathe. An inhale, an exhale, then her voice is noticeably calmer, though her posture is no less tense.]

There is nothing that can be done for him. The young master is being forced to kill. Exposing young master Fuyuhiko in this way does him no favors. That they were caught at all may bring its own set of problems.

[She is really trying to stay calm. Really trying.]

[perfectstrike]

Did any of you ever have a hand in how the suspect list was determined?

[From Peko's own attempted murder, she can't for the life of her figure out just what Wriggle was doing on that list.

She actually takes her glasses off and closes her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment in a startlingly defenseless motion.]

Michaelis is correct about all of them, is he not? Save for Nanami's role...

[And even if her face is mostly obscured by her hand, there's a definite quaver to her voice.]

There is a reason none of them are denying it or admitting to it. Why?

[onethirdthesoul]

[He frowns at her, but he's no less stubborn for once in his life.]

They're just doing whatever they can to try and stop this show... And the only way they can do that is if everybody is on the same page.

It might be a problem, but... It might save the people who are still alive, too.

[perfectstrike]

"Might."

[She shakes her head and crosses her arms, still breathing through her nose to try to keep her voice from betraying her emotion.]

At the cost of whose lives?

[Just the mastermind has to be killed, but then...]

[onethirdthesoul]

More people die if we don't try, but there's a chance nobody else will if we do. I don't want to see anybody else show up here, believe me! But we can't do anything to help them anyway. Except vote...

[perfectstrike]

I just--

[She could just say 'I'm worried about Kuzuryuu' instead of trying to talk about everyone in these vague terms. But that apparently is impossible??]

I need time to think. Excuse me.

[Apparently she's bowing out here. Literally. She inclines her head and tries to move past him, though he can of course try to keep following.]

[mightiswright]

No, not in the way you mean. [ It was just a PLEASANT SURPRISE to have all the suspects of his week be all the lawyers + Maya, what a coincidence. ] Aside from our attempts to frame certain people, as you would know. The suspect lists were just as much of a mystery to us as it was for you.

[ Phoenix sighs and grabs a chair to sit down in. Now that all of this has come out via Apollo, there's no point in trying to keeping the rest a secret. ] About the living ones... yes. He was wrong about eliminating Norway and Aoi, though... and Glinda has nothing to do with it.

It was made clear to us from the beginning that we weren't allowed to reveal the existence of the group. But why they're not denying it... that's their choice. [ And it seems a little too late to deny it now, not with everything laid out so neatly like that. ] Maybe they believe in the others' attempts to save everyone, including them.

[onethirdthesoul]

[Nope sorry, he's not letting her go so easily. Especially when he can figure that all out for himself without her saying it. Ryou doesn't actually follow her, he just keeps talking as she tries to leave.]

I understand that you're worried about Kuzuryuu-kun, but I think you should have more faith than to believe everybody will throw him under the bus because of this...

[roadroller]

[Rin looks up at Kanaya with an unreadable expression, probably because her own emotions are pretty conflicted right now - it wasn't too long ago that she got her bag and with it, the memories of her first run in the game, that all of this hardship was just a continuation of a hollow experience before. Kanaya had cut it short for her the first time, and now that the climax is this... maybe she'd have been better off staying dead. Then Len wouldn't have been involved at all. Or maybe this is what was always meant to happen - admittedly, this incentive and trial could not have been more against her if it had tried.

Rin realizes she's staring, and finally looks at the bento box at the floor, and registers what was said.]

... Well, at least I fooled someone. I was honestly trying to frame Chizuru-san from the very beginning.

[but she turned out to possibly be a DK!? now that's rotten luck. Anyway, somehow casually talking about old murder plans comes naturally with the regained memories, though Rin still feels guilty about it after Chizuru almost sacrificed herself for her, and.... well, the fact that Rin would have been kind of fine with that.

Maybe that's not the topic she wants to stay on here. Luckily, there's an easy topic change;]

I didn't think I'd see you again.

general reaction

[mightiswright]

[ It was going to be revealed sooner or later, but ... this isn't the way he expected. Sebastian is definitely good, though, and his report is some serious work of logic. If he weren't feeling so personally victimized by it, Phoenix might even admire it.

He manages to sit through most of the announcement with a neutral expression, but at certain points, Phoenix can't stop shifting around uneasily. What's Nanami playing at? She can't seriously be trying to get them to hunt her down instead of the others...

All he can do right now is hope that the others will talk her out of this... whatever it is. ]

[bigthings]

Heeeeeh, so you're an idiot. A loyal one, so I can't fault ya for that, but still an idiot.

Listen, I'm a general and a prince. I've got a ton of subordinates, people who I reached out to myself, people who I've been with for years - I know what it's like being in charge of people who are willing to kill or give their life for me the second I ask.

[He leans forward, eyes serious for once.] I didn't pick them because they were good at killin' or their skills or because of how useful they were as tools. Only a total shithead would value their subordinates based on that. D'you know what the precious thing my subordinates can give me is? What the most valuable thing you can give to your master is?

[perfectstrike]

Norway. Aoi. Nanami. Yukimura. Peixes. The young master and yourself. That... comprises the group in its entirety, yes?

[Peko keeps her spot against the wall, though her shoulders slump, and she just looks tired. Apparently taking the week to herself hadn't... helped her trying to think everything over at all, really.

She doesn't move her hand away from her face, even as it starts to shake. It's barely perceptible, but it's there.]

Will there be punishment? For being found out?

[perfectstrike]

[Makin' her way downtown. Walking fast.

Walking faster.

If it were anyone else's life at stake here, she'd perhaps be more willing to put her faith in the others. But not when it's Kuzuryuu.]

[bigthings]

Hey, tell me somethin'. [tugging on his sleeve...]

This dumb secret group shit, you guys were basically set on murderin' people from the start, yeah? Are you still rooting for them to pull it off?

[onethirdthesoul]

... [Ryou sighs and just lets her leave. He's a little frustrated, but... Maybe she'll be able to understand later, once she's cooled down.]

[perfectstrike]

[She opens her mouth to protest being called an idiot, maybe. Or to clarify that Kuzuryuu didn't pick her, that he was burdened with her whether he liked it or not. But Kouha keeps talking, and in spite of herself, she's listening. Maybe it's just because he is a general. Maybe she's just hoping for something to help her make sense of her entire situation.

Whatever it is, she stays quiet, even after he asks his question. She actually looks sixteen for once as she avoids his eyes, arms crossing as she attempts to adopt her normal tone and not sound nearly as vulnerable as she feels right now.]

What do you think it is?