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

[pasodoble]

Huh? ( OH IS THAT KOUGYO-- oh, no, its just her... maybe brother? Wow he'd... almost forgotten about you to be honest, oops. THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR DYING IN THE FIRST WEEK. ) So you're really related?

( wait )

Ay! What are you talking about?

[bloomnobly]

[ good thing it's not the time for sex jokes in general!!

but she blinks at him in a combination of surprise and worry, folding her hands over her chest ]

So...you as well. How cruel.

[perfectstrike]

Unless the young master's 'fail incentive' can change the past...

[She shakes her head slowly and has to take a deep breath before she can even try to continue speaking.]

It's not fair. That the young master be in such a position without knowing the truth...

[So it is fair for Phoenix though? Jeez, Peko.]

[pasodoble]

Hmm. I could think of worse things. ( Cheer up, Yuyuko. ) Don't look so down, it doesn't suit you.

[bloomnobly]

[ "worse things", huh.... her gaze subtly slides to Phoenix a ways away ]

It does not...bother you?

[perfectstrike]

That doesn't make sense.

[At least Peko's firm on that as she shakes her head. Whatmakesyouhaha.avi]

Nanami is my classmate. Not an NPC of any kind.

[pasodoble]

( He opens his mouth to clearly say yes but he seems to stop himself, )

Well... ( He really has to think about it. ) It's a lot... to think about...

( . . . )

I'd rather not think about everything all at once, y'know? ( Except he's obvoiusly going to have to deal with some things now! Gee! So many people! ) It gives me a headache.

... So tell me how you've been instead.

[perfectstrike]

[Ah yes. Here he is. The victim. Peko still doesn't exactly know how to handle these kinds of situations, since reuniting with dead people is never something she was trained to expect, let alone do.

So she waits until other relevant parties get their turn before venturing over. It... wouldn't hurt to say hello, right?]

Spain.

[Yes. That's it. Just saying the person's name to make him aware of your presence is exactly the correct response here. Well done, Peko. You did it.]

[bloomnobly]

No, no, it is understandable. [ she tries to give a reassuring smile. huh, he must have gone and looked in his bag while she was sitting in the corner and waffling about approaching him like a dumbass. She had been preparing herself for the psychopomp conversation, but now it was null and void. She...feels kind of awkward. ]

Par for the course, really. [ which is to say, 'shitty' ] I'm getting quite tired of murder mysteries...

[perfectstrike]

I believe that is the difference between the yakuza and another. We tend not to be overly concerned with the opinions of others.

[It's Complicated, the notions of family Peko has. She notices the way Kanaya looks toward Eridan, but doesn't comment on it. Really, it's hard not to think that there's some relationship between these weird aliens. Kanaya, Feferi, Eridan. When everyone else seems to be some kind of human (Sebastian and Wriggle necessarily excluded), it doesn't seem like a far jump to think of these two as having known each other in the past.

She stays silent a moment longer at Kanaya's mention of that particular platitude, her arms staying crossed comfortably -- or defensively? -- as she gives it careful consideration.]

I have heard that sentiment. [There's a brief glance toward Freud, just a moment, before she forces herself to look back to Kanaya.] I am perhaps not the best person for such a discussion. I would sacrifice as many lives as necessary for the sake of my young master.

[At least... she admits it?]

[pasodoble]

( Gold star for you, Peko. This isn't the worst greeting by far and he smiles at Peko, )

Miss Peko.

( Because saying someone's name is a good response. )

[perfectstrike]

[Well, he doesn't seem hostile, which is a good start. No one's been directly hostile to her since she arrived here, so she isn't sure why she's still wary of such an occasion.

She does move forward when he says her name, though, taking a seat nearby and just giving him a careful once-over.]

Have you remembered everything...?

[pasodoble]

( Sorry Yuyuko he appreciates the thought. )

Sí, the producers should really start a romance series instead.

[bloomnobly]

A romance series? Like what...?

[pasodoble]

( There's a flash in his eye, like everything is going through his mind again and then he just laughs awkwardly and nods. Even if he can, he doesn't want to remember everything right now. )

Sí. Aah, but.... don't make me think about it too much right now, okay? ( . . . ) It gives me a little bit of headache.

[pasodoble]

Y'know! A handsome man and a beautiful woman fall in love. They kiss, they fight, they make up, finally get m...arried...

( He might have just choked on his own words for a second and he glances at the screen.

Wow, now he's just gone and made himself sad. )

[perfectstrike]

Very well.

[She gives him a long look before nodding. A headache, huh? She's pretty sure he just doesn't want to talk about it, but she's not nearly concerned enough to pry into that aspect.]

I suppose it's useless to ask if you can remember anything about what may have happened to you? [Who could have poisoned him, that is.]

[bigthings]

Of course we're related, dumbass, you think we just had the same last name and were royalty from the same country by accident?

You know perfectly well what I'm talkin' about! [does he really] Don't pretend you're not some gross old pervert!

[bloomnobly]

[ ....ah, there it is. she was wondering what was up with him and Austria; she's guessing that was it. Though, uh, she's not entirely sure how marriage between personified countries works (?!) oh well ]

...I'm sorry.

[pasodoble]

( He tries to think about his day, going over everything he'd done up until dinner. )

Hmm... No, sorry. ( Even though he mentioned Iceland and Klavier before he died which he'll address, ) I really thought everything was going to be okay today so... I guess I was pretty careless, haha!

[perfectstrike]

It is not your fault.

[It's whoever was sloppy enough to kill him slowly's fault, tbh.

Peko exhales and shakes her head.]

I had not thought to see you again, under such circumstances.

[onethirdthesoul]

If it helps, Kanaya-san said not everyone's going to die... She said the last time this happened it lasted ten weeks, and we're on seven now.

[So that means only seven more people, if nobody double kills. That only leaves seven people at the end of all this...]

[speakveryclearly]

Being so dedicated to your duty... it's straightforward. Everyone has an important job to do, or ought to.

[At least she admits it. There's something Kanaya really likes about Peko... it's just also worrying. The bottom falls out under a person who thinks like that in the wrong place. Literally in Murder Manor.]

I just have to ask... where... other people factor into that particular thought process. [Saying "what if Fuyuhiko dies or something else drastic changes" is too rude. She also feels like saying "it's too sad being a tool" would be useless and insensitive. If Peko should serve a specific purpose, so be it - maybe - she also deserves to have a personal life alongside that at the very least, though. "Instead of that" would be the ideal but Kanaya's not holding her breath there. Maybe hitmanhood is a decent and fulfilling career. To have nothing, to be nothing outside of that is the real tragedy for Kanaya. Peko has these flickers of sentiment for Nanami, Austria, Maribelle - so faint. For them to not exist in her heart seems worse than blindness, and her excessively technical inquiry masks just how sad and lonely that place seems, if her happy and friendly behaviors are really a mandatory imitation of how "normal people" pass the time.] Unless the avoidance of any excessive thought process at all is itself another component of the condition?

[obsideo]

[Someone doesn't really hang out with the other kids, but she'll come to say hello to an old friend.]

Well, hello there. How are we feeling.

[perfectstrike]

Other people...?

[She repeats it as if it were the first time she had ever given it thought. And in this particular context, it is, in a manner of speaking. Her priorities fall Fuyuhiko -> Fuyuhiko's orders -> the Kuzuryuu family as a whole -> everyone else.

And another pause as she thinks about how to answer, exhaling quietly through her nose before shaking her head and meeting Kanaya's eyes.]

How do you mean?

[Before she can answer, she has to know what Kanaya's looking for.]