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

[bloomnobly]

[ she's silent for another few moments ]

I'm...I'm sorry. I don't know what else I can say right now.

[onethirdthesoul]

You really can't trust anybody, can you?!

[Ryou's crying, but it's more bitter than anything. He wipes his eyes and tries to suck it up.]

I can't... I can't trust anybody. [He draws his knees up and buries his face into his arms.]

[bloomnobly]

[ she takes a deep breath, and goes to sit next to him ] It's been said time and time again by now, but this place, it...makes us do things we would not normally ever consider doing. [ said with a gentle tone; she isn't scolding him. ]

Were her brother's life not on the line...do you think Rin-chan would betray you so easily? She stood up for you, and tried to petition for your life even when everyone else had already decided.

[ another short pause ] It may not mean much anymore, but if you need to, you may put your trust in me.

[onethirdthesoul]

Rin-chan... [He whines, but keeps his face hidden.] Rin-chan did for her brother what I did for Amane... B-but she still used me! I've hurt enough people without being an accomplice in hurting more. And now Rin-chan's going to die too! !

[So he's still upset about that... Ryou's feeling a lot of things right now.]

I'm starting to think I was better off being alone. I'm sick of seeing people get hurt...by me, or by others... It's too much.

[This is as close to passing the moral even horizon as Ryou will ever get. He doesn't even respond to Yuyuko's offer of trust. Right now he's too distraught.]

[bloomnobly]

You are not better off alone. Stop that. [ ...oh, that really struck a sour, very personal chord. her tone gets a bit firmer, less warm. ] I don't want to see you giving up.

[onethirdthesoul]

I'm already dead. What does it matter? Us staying here...it's just to make sure we keep suffering, isn't it?

[And his friends back home...he's sure they won't miss him for long, if at all. He caused them so much trouble too because of the Millennium Ring.]

[bloomnobly]

Not completely. You're still breathing right now, and so am I, so is Pekoyama-san, so is Kouha-san and...

[ shaking her head ] Didn't you hear what that woman said on the voting tape? Our deaths aren't permanent. We still have a chance of getting home. I've taken a 40% gamble at life before, and it worked. [ SOMEWHAT okay she ended up here instead of going back home, but DETAILS MAN ] So should you.

[onethirdthesoul]

If I have to go home like this...

[With blood on his hands, his trust broken, and all the turmoil that came with it...]

I don't know if I even want to go home anymore.

[bloomnobly]

I said stop it!

[ Yuyuko's voice gets a bit shrill, and she rises to her feet, positioning herself firmly in front of him. Considering how sturdy she is, if Ryou wants to get away, he'll have to climb over the seat backwards. ]

Do you think you're the only one who's ever suffered like this? I understand your pain, firsthand. And I know that sulking like this is going to make it feel worse. It always does.

[onethirdthesoul]

[Ryou's not going anywhere, he just avoids looking her in the face. His voice is hollow and tired as he speaks.]

I can't just feel better because you tell me to, Yuyuko-san... Is knowing other people have felt like this supposed to do that? Because it doesn't. It just makes me feel stupid for being...upset... [Ryou's voice cracks on the last few words as he holds back tears.]

[bloomnobly]

I'm not telling you to start feeling better right now. Nor am I saying that you should feel bad for being upset to begin with. [ crossing her arms ]

What I am saying is that resigning yourself to a quiet death and hopelessness isn't going to get you anywhere. Alright, perhaps you don't feel like going "anywhere." But eventually, you must. You can't stay in this darkness forever...

[onethirdthesoul]

Just dying would be easier. [He's reached an all-time low just now. Ryou always tried his best to remain hopeful and optimistic, even when he wasn't, but not right now.]

It's what I deserve. And if Rin-chan dies... I don't want to face her.

[bloomnobly]

No, it's not. [ she almost yells, but flinches as soon as the words come out of her mouth. that came out harsher than she intended. ]

You don't, despite what the others might have to say. You have already been punished for your actions quite accordingly. [ a headtilt ] Vilifying someone attempting to repent does nothing for either party. Rather, if you do believe you need to be punished, wouldn't living on be more suitable? At least, that is what Enma-sama would say.

[ knitting her brows together in thought ] Why is that? Because you failed her? She remained loyal to you during your trial, and you supported her by getting her the sponsorship this week, so I don't think that's the case.

Because you're angry with her...?

[onethirdthesoul]

[He flinches too when Yuyuko raises her voice, but says nothing else until she's finished.]

...I see what you're trying to do. [He tilts his head, pressing his cheek against his arm and sniffling. Telling him living would be the real punishment, to get him to want to live. It wasn't going to work.]

Rin-chan made me an accomplice... She used something I gave her with to hurt somebody else. Of course I'm angry! I trusted her...

[And now he doesn't want to face her, because that always makes things...complicated. Why can't he just be mad? Why does he have to feel sympathetic too? And he still wants to be her friend, underneath all that...]

1/2

[bloomnobly]

I'm not 'trying' anything. I'm dispensing wisdom as the mouthpiece of the judge of all souls. Or, do you believe you know your fate better than someone whose job it is to determine crime and punishment?

[ although her voice grows softer once more, she sighs ] Well then, my apologies.

2/3 i lied

[bloomnobly]

[ think yuyuko think. what would have gotten you out of one of your stupid funks? what did Yukari do to talk you out of one of those self-destructive bouts?

Well, sometimes they played Shogi, but she didn't think there was a Shogi board hiding around here somewhere. Or they went for a walk in the gardens, but...no gardens. It was a friggin' theater with piss-poor lighting and food as their only physical distraction.

...sometimes Yukari asked her about her family. Well, she was Yuyuko's only friend, so they couldn't exactly talk about that, but her family was one thing she could talk about. Maybe...maybe that would work?

Yuyuko is silent for a moment before spreading out her hands and unleashing a small flock of butterfly bullets around the two of them. Their circle path is wide enough to not hit the poor boy (AS LONG AS HE DOESN'T TOUCH THEM AGAIN!!) but it does alleviate some of the awful lighting around them. It's like glowing pastel lanterns...!!

--and takes a seat next to him. ]

[bloomnobly]

Saa...you've felt alone for the longest time, am I right? [ blinking at him for a moment ] What was the cause of that? You did tell me you lost a chunk of your family, but, ah, do you mind sharing what happened to your friends? Something about comas?

[onethirdthesoul]

... [He instinctively sits back as those butterflies come out, having learned all-too-well what touching them will do. At least they don't seem to be aimed at him, and the proper lighting was a nice change even if it did have him squinting as his eyes adjusted.

The topic chance surprises him, but he's glad for it. Right now, he doesn't want to think about Rin.]

My friends? That was... [he digs through his bag and pulls out the Millennium Ring] ...him.

He sealed their souls into Monster World miniatures... [Ryou grimaces.] He said he was paying rent.

[bloomnobly]

[ for a split second, Yuyuko looks terrified. but the look fades just as quickly as it came. ]

...there's something evil inside of that object. [ as if that was a fact that needed stating at this point?? well, she feels kind of dumb for saying it like that, that clearly shows on her face. so she coughs and continues-- ] 'He' is some kind of...evil spirit? Demon? What a monstrous being...

[onethirdthesoul]

He made it sound like he was a person once, from a long time ago. [Ryou turns the Ring over in his hands. Despite what he just said he seems to handle it tenderly, as if he were fond of it, or maybe transfixed by the power behind it.

Maybe both. At least it's doing a good job of keeping his mind off murder.]

My Father got this for me on a trip to Egypt, and I'd been wearing it since then...

[bloomnobly]

That's possible. Zokurei can just be stray phantoms.

[ mulling this over for a moment ] I take it this wasn't your ordinary tourist trinket.

[onethirdthesoul]

Father is an archeologist, so he probably bought it near wherever he was excavating. He told me it was a pawn shop, anyway...

[He sets the Ring in his lap.] Not long after I started wearing it... The friends I would play Monster World kept falling into comas and ending up in the hospital.

[bloomnobly]

I have to wonder what an evil spirit's vessel would be doing in a pawn shop...

[ considering this ] Was it...was it possessing you? [ that seems to be the logical explanation, here. Since this spirit apparently didn't have a body, and from his wording, Ryou didn't seem to know how exactly the comas happened. ]

[onethirdthesoul]

[He would also have to wonder...]

I guess that's what you could call it. I don't really remember what happens when he does stuff, except for the last time it happened...

Before that, I couldn't even hear him.

[bloomnobly]

That sounds like possession, to me. What an awful thing, to be possessed by such a spirit.

[ ......... ] He speaks to you?