Like Thee's debut - The Play's The Thing, To Catch The Conscience Of - [Week III]

[keytarheroine]

Who: The Blood Moon Troupe - including Claire (the Luna Purpure), The Former Dame Guidulf (the Luna En Rose), Armin (The Luna Sable), Sigrid (The Luna D'or), Amalia (The Luna Argent), Jun/Lily (the honorary Luna Ermine); and OTA but especially Nero as audience members and/or security, and the like
What: The debut of Claire's play Like Thee, Or, The Comedy of Pandora and the Maiden-Song
When: At the end of Week III
Where: The Roseland Theatre
Content warnings: Dramatic depictions of The Queer Struggle, Exciting Stage Battles And Pyrotechnics, whatever the hell is happening with getting Lily back in Amalia, potential spoilers for Magica Riot.

I: Before The Play - Word Of Mouth
Word is getting out - between jugglers of the Blood Moon Troupe saying so, mentions at the Roseland and the Laurelthirst, and maybe a few mentions to key people from the likes of "Lucas Azuresky" and Claire that there's a new play on, entitled:

Like Thee: Or, The Comedy of Pandora and the Maiden-Song.

The posters and the players speak of an exciting tale of a swashbuckling Witches Pentacle, five heroines with fantastical musical magic, from all walks of life - a mortal sorceress, a vampire, a werewolf, and a changeling child who slipped the faerie hedge - fighting forces of unholy corrupting discord and dissonance, and of A Young Lad realizing that they never were a lad but rather one of those Witches destined to fight alongside the Pentacle, a tale of her coming into her own and finding the family she so desperately needed.

The sort of feel-good story of unity and goodwill in the face of sinister forces that Claire feels Montica needs right now, Nero's opinion of the Umbral court's tastes to the contrary.

II: The First Night - Sing, Calliope, of Lady Pandora, and of the pure who hear her Maiden-Song
The stage is set. Claire, in a chiton, with a harp, steps on stage with the curtains still dropped. The prologue begins:

"Sing, Calliope, of Lady Pandora,
And of the pure who hear her Maiden-song.

Once upon a myth, proud Jupiter
As a gift to Hera most filial
Did commission Vulcan, that forge-wise god
To first cast in their mold our humankind;
Thus did that finesmith, from his cunning throne
Carve Pandora, the first and fairest maid,
From white marble, with eyes of shining pearls,
Inlaid with bright sapphire and ebon;
Weave hair of sable silk, twisted in locks;
Minerva draped her in a tyrian robe,
Venus placed golden laurels on her brow,
And so, under Apollo's tutelage
Did Pandora's sweet voice first sing that verse:
That bright leitmotif of peace and goodwill
Now spoken of in awe: the Maiden-Song..."

She sings of the Jar. They speak of her opening it, and letting every ill in the world loose. They speak of Pandora having nothing left but Hope. And, too, they speak a new myth: of Pandora trying to rectify her mistake by teaching girls who are pure of heart the Maiden-Song, and using it as a weapon to make harmonious again the "discord, Pythos-born" she had wrought.

And then Claire bows, and slips backstage, and the curtains rise, and the others - and Sigrid! - are seated at a bar clearly modeled after the Laurelthirst (which gets a laugh from some), with Claire tending it; and, enter stage left, Amalia and Jun, in costume as Lady Elanor and A Young Lad: and then a tale unfolds...

III: The Confrontation - Servants of dissonance and discord, your crimes witnessed, be harmonized by the Witch in Amethyst

And then, one fateful night on stage, the speeches go as usual:

Five stock transformation sequences a la Shakespeare later...

Sara holds up a ruby brooch and bellows:
"Upon this stage, enter Rose in panoply,
Of the raging flames, I am the Witch Ruby!"

And so on, Sigrid:
"Upon this stage, Mari, of moonkissed fur,
the lightning-swift who's called the Witch Amber,"

Hannah:
"Upon this stage Chloe, in unlife bold,
the icy cool who is the Witch Em'rald!"

Nova:
"Upon this stage, enter Skye Slipped-The-Briar,
Of thunderous clouds, I am the Witch Sapphire!"

And, finally, Claire:
"Upon this stage, enter Lucia Barleycorn,
Of vines and violets, in Amethyst reborn!"

As one, they sing in harmony:
"Well do we players know to heart our parts,
We are the guardians of Song and Heart!
You of dissonance and discord, know well:
Be muted by our Witches' Pentacle!"

Jun - or Lily - rather, as Lucia's doubts, slithers onto stage on Claire's left: as her hope, Amalia in costume as Elanor, is at her right.

Claire exchanges a glance with Amalia. Showtime.

"So, playing at being a heroine?
Do you truly think the dress makes the woman?
You play games with the lives of your comrades."

Claire responds - breaking kayfabe in the process -
"Aye, I've been playing games with thee, Lily - from the moment I wrote this role for you."

Amalia cries: "BLOOD MOON TROUPE! TO ME! For our own Iris - and for a lasting peace in Montica!"

And then, things happen very fast that are not part of the show.

IV: Backstage, after the fact (Closed to Jun, Amalia/Lily, Sigrid, Claire, Armin, and Nero)

After that, Amalia and Lily - the planning mind and the yearning heart - are... if not one, then at least properly reunited, and the terror of fighting to reunite them is passing. Hazel cares for Jun, and Iris does her best, from her wheelchair, to reassure Armin and Sigrid.

And it is about this time that Claire excuses herself to find Nero, because she has the feeling that his presence will be helpful to Sigrid...

V - The Show Must Go On
The other showings of the play are far more exciting as in fun and far less exciting as in stupidly dangerous magic flying. Come, enjoy the show. Or play Statler and Waldorf from the cushy seats. Who'll stop you?

Comments

[icanhearscreams]

I - Before

Jun does not like this. He does not want to be in a play, he does not want attention, he does not want to be perceived. But Lily does, and there's a hole in his heart where there should be family and friends, and he doesn't have the heart to deny her. Not now. Not like this.

He's backstage, and there's not a lot of things that he can do to get out of this. For now he's himself rather than Lily being him, and he's trying to act as if he wants to do this. He does a lap of the theater nervously, watching as patrons trickle in and the actors assemble. He's not sure what to do. He feels anxious, he feels light-headed, and he needs to breathe.

Do you care to calm his nerves? Or perhaps you want to make it worse, for some reason?


II - Confrontation

He's mostly watching, but the confrontation is obvious from the glance the two give each other. He's not himself, but just watching - and for now, he can't really do much. All he can do is warn Lily the best he can.

To the backstage. Hurry!

He doesn't want this nearly as much as Lily doesn't want it. But if something does have to happen, he's absolutely not letting it happen in front of a crowd.


III - Backstage

Jun wakes up, and he knows he's alone.

Oh, Hazel is there, but Lily is not. Instantly he's on his feet, as unwise as that might be, and makes for the door. He's unlikely to get there fast, and he might have other visitors... but he's sure going to try.

"Let me go!"

II

[birdchasingecho]

And miss a picture-perfect moment from the audience!?

"So this is what you'd array?" Lily says, with a laugh. This isn't the way I'd prefer you learn some real magic, but here. We. Go. "Here? Before them?"

"A finer set of motley I've not seen." Lily weaves her hands, and the shadows from the lime-lights suddenly stand in starker relief, and begin to rise from the stage.
"Truly, If show must go on, you'll have it!"

"Lord, do save us from those that hound the stage," Amalia replies, drawing a shield of argent and a few laughs.
"And so you would hound us still. To what end?"

"To what end! Why, no greater end than folly,
Be it before those dazzling patrons
Whose cheers and anguish feed ev'ry actress!" The shadows lift further, making puppet plays in chiaroscuro.

The crowd ooohs its appreciation. Things might be going off script, but it's quite the show, still!

II

[terraboo]

"I do think the show shall continue her~", Armin responded.

"For our Claire hath found the path she needs,
to save that which you though you didst not need."

The shadows are forming... And Armin? She is simply pacing, step by step.

"Fear not this night, and don't be led astray."

She is encouraging Claire. Empowering her, even.

Re: II

[keytarheroine]

“Oh, I intend to finish our play,” responds the actress in amythest dress.

She draws steel, and assumes a fighting stance.

“I am no guardian of song and heart.
I am a mere player, doing my part.
But, her yearning heart, shade unmoored, know this;
Thy planning mind must with thee coexist.”

[icanhearscreams]

At that, Jun seethes. He can see the audience, can see the players on the stage. People are watching this, they're going to talk about this. He feels ill, which is strange given his current state.

You're embarrassing me. He responds, with all of the sulking and grumpiness that a teenage boy can emit.

He pushes, trying to force a switch. He doesn't know how to do it without her, but he's determined.

Backstage - VI - rather

[keytarheroine]

“June, wait, we have no idea how much Lily took from you -“

But it’s seemingly too late, and Jun is at the door, and flings it open.

Only to be blocked by a seated figure in a rolling chair, being moved with Claire’s help.

[icanhearscreams]

Jun stops, nearly falling over, and looks at the figure. Then he looks at Hazel, shaking from exhaustion and anger.

"... You all went about this in the worst way, you know that, right?"

[keytarheroine]

“Given the other example of what happens to Lily’s…”

Iris, from her chair - looking better, in pink hair and the military uniform of Preceptor Mirabelle Defoe bites back the word she wants to say.

“Partner,” Claire suggests. “Her other partner. You see how hard she rode Iris without realizing - you feel how drained you are. We were worried about your safety, I say true.”

cw: death mention

[icanhearscreams]

"... I agreed." He backs up so he can look at all of them at once. "I didn't totally know what I was getting into with that contract, but I knew enough."

He curls his hands into fists, taking a few deep breaths. "Probably harder on me, considering... my health." He's still not sure if he's totally recovered his 'life energy', however that's measured, since the battle. This probably was a stupid idea. He probably would have died again.

... He's not sure how much that matters to him.

"... You should have bargained." His voice is quiet, shaky. "Forcing someone into a confrontation, into what they feel is a life or death situation... you could have done this better. Should have done this better." But it's done, and he can't do anything about it at the moment.

Even still... even with all of that... "... I guess it's just another story I have to carry." Even if it migght not be totally real.

[terraboo]

[2: Girl playing it UP]

Armin The Fool's dual roles are played to a precise hilt. She seems almost adamantly focused on not stealing the show other than a spot or two.

This is a stage she has borrowed into. She will not steal it any more than her roles call for.

[4: Backstage]

It is here that Armin is playing to a slightly different cue.

"The should shouldst go on," she finally says after a moment. "Shall I... Throw in a monologue? Perhaps explain to our audience a little?"

[5: Later Showings]

She is ready for the heckling that will some come, of this she is certain. It is, after all, Armin's scene at this time of night...

4

[keytarheroine]

"I think we might, after it's said and done, if you've the rest of your lines yet left in you," Claire says. "Thank you. Your words helped more than you could know."

Re: 4

[terraboo]

"Mostly, I'm just glad this worked," Armin responded. "We've got so much more to do, yes... But the crazy part is complete."

Lo: A Soul of Iron, A Heart Of Shadows, And The Will To Evolve

[birdchasingecho]

II-- Be Yourself, Or Die Dreaming

Amalia has the honor of the opening line, after the prologue, dressed a well-appointed crafter of instruments, though of course no real crafter would wear her leathers and tools into the taberna.

Being this close to Lily, this united in purpose, makes things... Odd. Her heart beats strangely, and she feels it stepping closer, again and again.

But she is nothing if not good at masking her self and her plans, and though it turns her stomach a bit with nerves to listen to the audience's reaction, she's drinking it in just as much as Lily does, though in a more metaphorical way.

But Lily... Lily resents it. Amalia is starting to tell. To feel the bleed-through of her resentment of Amalia, her self-imposed disconnect of her body, her inflated cleverness.

'Twas enough to drive a woman mad, if she had not an iron soul. With both at the backstage, she mutters, "We shall all be ourselves in the end..."

But, for now, her next spot.

V - After The Fact: The Princess Is Dead
Amalia awakes from her post-victory collapse with a cheek that is silver-burnt and a soreness that soaks her clean to the bone.

But she has no spur, needs no spur, save ambition, and slowly rises to her feet. Ugh. Where are we going now?

"I have left this fester long enough. We go to make apology. It... It is the least we may do, for everyone we've endangered with our folly."

... HEY! Do not shove that sadness in me, you hack!

"That guilt is yours, too."

Still, she stands, and she takes some water, and goes to the door.

Takes a deep breath, and tries to walk from shadow into light.

V

[icanhearscreams]

Jun walks towards her, still tired and drained. He stares at her through his mental haze and straightens up a little bit, folding his arms.

"... Well." What now? "Are you happy?" Either of them? Both?

Re: V

[birdchasingecho]

"No. Well we know that thing we did was terrible. Not just to you, but to hundreds. It was. To apologize to many, but you and Iris most of all, that I emerged."

She kneels, head bowed. "I do not expect you to forgive me."

[icanhearscreams]

He just sighs and shoves at her. "Get up. You don't have to kneel in front of me." He had to kneel on countless cushions, telling stories and apologizing to his classmates' parents. The apology also doesn't mean much, because what's done is done.

"You've got a future. You need to figure out what you want to do with it."

[birdchasingecho]

Amalia pauses. Laughs, a sad little laugh. "Oh, June. That part was set for me long before you ever arrived."

She stands, as requested. "Do you know how it is I have come to be so generous?"

V

[keytarheroine]

She's greeted by hitched breath and offered hand.

"Amalia. Lily, as well, it seems. We... are glad to see you whole again," she says, quite honestly, as ever she did.

Re: V

[birdchasingecho]

"Claire. I... I have much to apologize for. To you, and to Iris. Hellfire and communion, half the audience, as well. I wagered far too much on the hope that Lily was too much a showman to endanger them willingly."

Take her hand, idiot. Amalia blinks in shock, but finds herself doing so.

Re: V

[keytarheroine]

"And whose mad plan was it to draw her out, with roman a clef of the Blood Moon's woes?"

Claire, after all that, the rush not yet faded, puts that hand on her cheek and nuzzles it, as a wolf might to show her deference - or else to show affection to her kin.

"The plan worked, the audience was unharmed. Iris is free. Iris is free, and you - thou'rt whole, thou can yearn and plan together, thou canst love, and thou shalt save Montica - thou hast reforged the city, tempered it, into the method of her salvation."

Re: V

[birdchasingecho]

"Ha, we are both suited to each others' mad ambition, aren't we?" She replies, and cannot keep the devil's grin off her face. For, after all, had she not just beaten the Devil at her own game?

She hesitates, and brings the hand to her own cheek. Just for a stolen moment. "But I would not yet celebrate Montica's salvation. Not until the guns fall silent, not until the packs are on my side. Come to it-- any news on Endymion? I know we sent one of ours with a phial of oil..."

[codeswitchcraft]

II/III

Sigrid is beginning to see what her mother saw in a player's life. Not so much that she will abandon her own responsibilities, but enough to take her turn upon the stage for now. She's proud that she is able to keep all her lines straight, with no need for a prompter.

When the battle breaks out, she shifts her hands into claws and her teeth into fangs and she stays close to her mother's chair, ready to act in Iris' defense if need be.

IV

Afterwards she's shaking, overwhelmed by all that has happened on stage. Amalia is herself again? Healed again? Just watching her with the others, Sigrid can already see the difference. She no longer is so offputtingly cold as she has been for all these months.

It is as if she's been given her childhood friend back. The older boy turned girl whose company she and Sigwulf had been thrown so often into, whose able performance of her duties as Hunter heir Sigrid had used as touchstone for herself as heir to the Guildulf. She has her friend back once more, not this almost-stranger that she needs must be wary of.

She doesn't wish to marry Amalia and she knows that the main argument she had against the match is now gone.

IV

[birdchasingecho]

But... First... She approaches, with that same slightly cold air. She is still changed for her ordeal, and one of the first things is-- "... Sigrid. Although I should also apologize to your mother, I must also apologize to you. I have put you and her through a terrible ordeal, perhaps needlessly."

Re: IV

[codeswitchcraft]

"You took her from me," Sigrid says, quietly. "I know it is nothing my father did not do to you, but you took her from me and in a way where it would have been kinder to kill her."

Re: IV

[birdchasingecho]

For a moment-- for a moment there, Amalia winces, her eyes unfocus and dart, this way and that. Her shadow seems to want to have its full say, but with one final cross glance at the floor, she manages to get out, "A situation she would not have been in, but for our own errors in sorcery."

The tone is the irritated growl of one attempting to end an argument, though in this case, it is with herself. "And for that, I can only offer what amends I can, and make certain my other self does not... will not cause any more harm."