when your thoughts turn sour make them sweet instead

[sentree]

[ That was...positively horrible? Ugh. After a few hours, notes are slipped under each person's door. They read, in a neat handwriting: ]

Banquet in Vanellope's honor in the dining room.

- Reyna, Sally and Thalia

[ You may not know what to expect when they say banquet, but it...really is one, isn't it? Thalia's main dish is cheeseburgers, so there are so many of those, but the table's positively covered in an arrangement of fruit and vegetables and all kinds of bread. Looks like they've gone all out.

What's really the cream of it all, though, are the desserts. Not a lot that's special, but there's a wide collection of cookies and cupcakes, and enough hot chocolate to feed an army. Maybe literally. There is a section that's particularly fancy, and that's the many candy apples, definitely courtesy of Sally. Along with a cute amount of peppermint bark. It seems like the food is unending, too, since there's the delicatible smell of baking cookies and simmering candy from the kitchen. Thalia and Sally are keeping you stocked, don't worry. ]

Comments

[coulombslaw]

You can't be serious!

[What the hell?! Virgil goes ahead and grabs the chandelier, lifting it away from--okay, no, he can't do that. He tries to drag it away, trying to see if there's someone underneath it]

Help! Someone!

[Looks like he can't take the chandelier away by himself. Curse his lack of powers!]

[sentree]

[ She hears the cries from the kitchen- Hades, she'd heard the scream from there too. ]

Gods, what happened?! [ Here comes Thalia to try and help lift it. ]

[forgottenfounder]

What the-?!

[Oswald is here, Virgil! And he's gonna help you try and pull this chandelier off of... whatever is under there!

Oh god, this is not what he wanted today.]

[fairlypushy]

[Amanda arrives slightly after Virgil and pales.]

I can't lift that, but I can help.

[darnsitall]

I heard a scream! Is everything all- oh.

[keyofimagination]

[The Narrator shakes his head.]

He's already dead.

[As he tries to move the chandelier away, Virgil will see a hint of fur.]

[coulombslaw]

No way...

[So soon?! With Oswald and Thalia, maybe they're able to move the chandelier enough for someone to retrieve what's underneath]

Amanda, Sally, maybe it's not too late! Do something!

[fairlypushy]

[Amanda takes a deep breath and raises her hands. Anyone walking in late will see her trembling with effort, trying to support some of the weight to make the chandelier lighter for the people attempting the rescue.

But you'd better hurry: she can't hold it for long.]

[darnsitall]

O-of course! Here, let me help!

[Sally rushes over and grabs a part of the chandelier. She pulls with all her might!!

...until there's a loud tearing noise and her arms rip right off at the elbows.]

[sentree]

[ With Amanda's help and Sally's.....Sally-ness, there's enough room to reach in and snag whoever this is...hopefully.

Here's the big question now: Who's under the chandelier? ]

1/2

[grimgrinningghosts]

[The body is... pretty badly mangled, and it's pretty hard to make out who it is under all that blood and gore. But with enough looking, Thalia will be able to recognize those large ears and blonde fur.

Finnick is dead.]

[keyofimagination]

[The Narrator exhales sharply.]

Finnick, a true scam artist at heart. He knows when a situation turns sour, and to run when the going gets tough. Unfortunately he was also sure he was above the rules, and that you can squeeze under any rule if you’re clever enough. Now he will never be able to escape from… The Twilight Zone.

[He looks over to the front door and points out the scratches and dents in the door and nearby wall.]

Rule 4. I hope you’re all aware now that there are punishments for breaking the rules in this hotel.

There will be no investigation for this, but I suggest everyone should go to bed before any more mishaps happen tonight.

[sentree]

[ No. No- ]

How could you, you-- [ Gods, she has his body in her lap. There's blood all over the jeans she'd commandeered from the coat check.

...Breathe. Just...breathe, Thalia. She bows her head and...gods, are his eyes open? She'll close them...and pull another coin from her pocket, to place in his mouth. ]

I'm sorry... It's a little too late to prepare another banquet, you little jerk of a fuzzball...but may this pay your toll across the Styx.

[coulombslaw]

...

[Virgil slowly puts down his part of the chandelier. Not too long ago Finnick was eating hamburgers, and now...

He's not breaking down or anything, but this is hitting him hard. Another death so soon...this really shouldn't have happened]

[forgottenfounder]

[...He had just been talking to him, not a few minutes ago. And now...

Oswald doesn't burst into tears, but after today he's just so... tired. His shoulders sag, his ears droop. Another person had just died, and all he did was try to get out without hurting anyone. It's a cold reminder of just where they are.]

[hallotween]

["Just... Take care of yourself, okay? And be careful with what you do."

she is, slowly but surely, becoming convinced that none of the adults here have any idea what they're doing.]

[darnsitall]

[That's unfortunate.]

...It'd take an awful long time to put him back together.

[If only Doctor Finkelstein were here!]

[fairlypushy]

[Once Amanda sees that whoever it is has been pulled from under the chandelier she lets go of it and sways. For a second she's upright and then she slowly starts falling over. There are limits to what she can do, especially here, and that was well past them. She definitely shouldn't have done it, if the blood dripping from her nose is any indication.

. . . Someone should probably catch her.]

[forgottenfounder]

[Oswald was fairly set on just standing there in shock, but as Amanda seemed keen on losing her balance he couldn't just stand around and let someone else get hurt, or possibly even worse.

So he quickly steps in, arms ready to catch her. He's... actually stronger then his size and appearance may suggest, so it won't be... too much of a problem. Maybe someone wants to help?]

[stenchus_rodentus]

[Ratigan...had been out for awhile. A long while. So it takes a big commotion like this to bringing him out of it and at attention.]

...er is the trial over?

.[Wait is that....um.]

We just talked, didn't we?

[forgottenfounder]

Yeah.

[From where he is, helping a fallen Amanda, that's all he can say.]

Just talked to him.

[stenchus_rodentus]

[Well drinking and vertigo did a number on him. He doesn't even remember getting here.]

...unfortunate for the boy. Looks like our bloodbath is growing expedited.

[He feels a vague disappointment about losing someone who thought he was cool but whatever.He's oooooover it.]

[greatwidesomewhere]

[Belle had managed to miss most of the commotion by virtue of being up on the second floor, talking to Kylo, but coming back downstairs, her heart drops, seeing the little cluster of people surrounding the wrecked chandelier, and...

Oh, no.]

Finnick...? But he...he was just trying to escape. Just like the rest of us!

[This is supremely unfair, but as much as Belle wants to tear into the Narrator right now, she knows from the trial that it's not going to get her much of anywhere. Slowly, she sinks to a sitting position on the bottom of the staircase and presses her fingers into her eyes, trying to blot the image of a crushed and bloodied Finnick out of her mind. They hadn't gotten along, precisely, but still. He didn't deserve that. None of them deserve any of this.]

[goofy_er]

[Goofy comes running. Here he is. ]

W-What happened here--?!

[He sees the Chandelier. Oh god....]