This is fine. It's fine. We're fine.

[Well that was.

Something.

Underneath everyone’s door they’ll find a slip of paper, in shaky calligraphy, that reads:

INVITATION

Meet in the Dining Room.

Do not bring alcohol of any sort.

Upon arrival into the Dining Room it’s clear that this is very much...not a party.

The center of the room is cleared of all tables, and instead has all the chairs arranged in a circle, facing inwards. On the tables pushed to the side are jugs of water, cups, plates of saltines, and several hastily-made pamplets that read on the front ”How to cope with Child homicide” that contains an advisory list:

Try not to think about it.
Do not get hysterical.
Crying is permitted, but keep it within a reasonable volume. (For the consideration of fellow mourners)
Maintain civility
Do not plunder the belongings of the deceased.
No drinking or gambling your sorrows away. Set an example.

Standing in front of one of the chairs already is Mr.Arrow. He clears his throat as people start to slowly come in.]

I gathered you all here because I believed it would be conductive to group morale if we all worked through our feelings regarding recent events. Talk about your feelings with one another, but not with me.

[He steps back a little, out of the circle of chairs, in what seems to be an invitation for people to sit down and discuss with one another.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oh hey, a magic mirror. That's actually something Marco's familiar with, whether or not it's the same one Star has in her room.

He'll just wait for a moment when it's not being crowded around or used and walk over to it, staring at his reflection for a moment before reaching out to touch it.]

Call Star.

[it's probably not going to work the same but thats the only way he knows how to use mirrors okay]

[Okay, this is cool. She can do this. He knows everything now. She knows everything now. This is fine.

Star has a speech prepared for when it's finally her turn, so she can explain ~~away~~ everything, but the minute Marco's face appears it all just evaporates. It's been months since she's talked to him and he's finally here and that trumps all of the anxiety she's feeling over everything he just learned.]

MARCO! Marco, it's me! Can you hear me!?

Star?

[Marco sounds and looks a little.. worse for wear right now. He doesn't recognize her surroundings, and the frantic tone in her voice both kind of solidify that Randall wasn't lying... probably. It's like a punch to the gut, the idea that she went through something like this and was dead right now. Dead. "They voted for her".... it feels so awful to even think about that but it's all on her mind.]

Star! Star, I didn't-- where are----

[Marco's eyes well up with tears as he practically smooshes his face against the cool glass of the mirror, as if he wanted to force himself in there somehow.]

A-are you okay?

[It's cool she's got her face practically pressed against the TV because she just can't get close enough to him right now. She also looks kind of terrible- like her ridiculously huge hair is even longer than normal. And probably hasn't been brushed in a while, either.]

I'm fine! Really! I'm just kind of- stuck in the Underworld right now. I know what you're thinking! But it's temporary! There's a way we can get outta here we just- haven't found it yet. And we can get you guys out of there too! Somehow.

[She'd been hanging on his every word since this game started. She knew he'd been counting on her to save him. She had to prove to him that she still could.]

The Underworld?!

[Marco's eyes widen at that, of course surprised at the idea of them in fucking hell.

..Though that surprise is quick to dissipate at a realization, and he wipes his eyes with the back of his arm as he continues.]

....wait, wait. Like. Tom's Underworld, Underworld? Or like Earth's Underworld, Underworld?

Iiiii... dunno. Definitely not Tom's Underworld. This one's ruled by a jerk name Hades! He's got a whole bunch of us locked in this box because he and his jerk friends need our souls for something.

[Surely Marco is familiar with horrible blood rituals right now.]

We're fine. I'm fine! Really! I know people on the outside that are trying to help too! We're all gonna get out of this, okay?

[If she keeps repeating it, it'll come true.]

[Oh. Hades. That's fine. They're trapped by the greek god of the underworld. That's fine.]

H-he wants your souls?

[Marco echoes that, back to looking extremely concerned for her.]

How... I mean, how did you get there in the first place? He-- he said "they" voted for you.

What happened, Star?

Edited 2018-01-28 04:38 (UTC)

Yeah. And if you're here, then he wants yours too.

[Star then noticeably freezes up at that next question. Suddenly that torrent of TL;DR just dries up. She had been hoping, however feebly, that she could avoid ever telling anyone she knows about that. But that Randall guy squashed that pretty thoroughly.

"They" voted for you. Marco isn't dumb. He's had to vote for two people so far. He knows what it means.]

Look, I...

[She bites her lip and glances away for the first time since they started talking.]

Jane wasn't... the first accident.

....

[Marco's silent, at that. Of course he knows what it means, and. Well. He wouldn't know what to think if it wasn't an accident. But that doesn't mean he feels any better hearing that... that she was executed over an accident. Just like Jane was. It places an image of Star, floating up, up, up into the ceiling----

Marco reaches out, placing his palm against the glass with nothing but sympathy for his best friend in his eyes.]

I'm... so sorry, Star.

[No one deserves to die over something they didn't mean to do, and knowing Star she must feel.. god. So fucking guilty over it. And it makes him feel so livid.]

I wish I could have been there with you.

[If he looks close enough he can pinpoint the exact moment where her heart breaks.]

You don't... [Hate at me for killing someone? For not being there for you? For being a complete and utter failure to you and everyone around me?] Don't be. Please. You have enough to worry about right now. I told you, I'm okay! We gotta work on getting you outta there!

[She reaches out and touched the TV screen where his hand is.]

[God he wishes he could reach into this mirror and just--- pull her over into his arms right now. Their hands pressed against the glass at each other is the closest they're going to get, and it's just not enough.]

We'll work on getting us both out of here. Together. I won't leave this place without you, Star.

[He has no idea how the fuck they're going to do that but.. they'll figure it out. They have to.]

I promised I would protect you until one of us dies. And as far as I'm concerned, you're not dead yet.

[This is quite the mood whiplash he's having, and while he's glad the dead aren't completely gone, goat dad goes into a little fit and starts writing.

'NONE OF YOU ARE GOING TO DIE (AGAIN), ALRIGHT?'

He's. A bit of a distance behind the kid so that both Star and Marco can see the sign.]

[OH

HI GOATBRO

please don't tell her mom about this]

It's, uh, nice to see you, too?

[Hey actually, Lekmet reminded him about something!]

.....do you think we could bring alive Lekmet back home with us?

[Squint.]

'Alive' Lekmet?

[What. Did she miss.]

Uh.. yeah?

[Marco looks back at the goatman, and then back at Star.]

I don't know how, but they managed to bring him back to life. Obviously since he's, y'know.. standing right behind me.

[ 'Can we please not make dying a recurring theme?'

He's gonna stare at Marco like don't you dare die on us, kid.]

[sweats]

I don't plan on it.

[but be careful lekmet you might jinx him]

[HAHA THE TIMELINE BULLSHIT. How far in her future are they from, anyway? She really wants to ask, but at the same time? She's not sure she wants to know how and why she got back together with Tom of all people. awkwaaaaaaard.]

Well...! He's alive now! If- when you guys get out of there, I don't see why we couldn't bring him back with us!

[ALSO. LEKMET'S RIGHT. DON'T FUCKING DIE, MARCO]

You guys, please be careful, okay?

[Time travel is such bull and this is why we, as a family, stick to dimensional travel using scissors.

'We'll do our best. Dead dimension or not, it's good to see you well, Star.'

Cue a weak smile. He has no idea what he's going to tell Moon when they get out of this.]

I told you I'm going to get us both out of here, didn't I?

[Marco manages a smile, too. And he looks from Lekmet back to the mirror.]

Besides, no one here's gonna want to mess with --HIYAAH!!

[He preforms an air kick, kicking himself right outta frame.]

Squire to the princess, Marco Diaz!

[he will chop someone in the throat]

[That gets a laugh from her, horrifying murderhaus and timeline bullshit notwithstanding.]

You know, you're not half bad for my squire!

[She just wishes she could remember when she did that.]

"Not half bad?"

[Marco lets out an offended sounding scoff, and he peeks back into frame, just his angry looking eyes.]

How can you even say that after all the stuff I've done for you? I fold your laundry twice over after getting it from The Wash every morning! Every morning, Star!

[Damn, from a mere crush to a squire- That's really impressive.

...! He then remembers something! From his inventory, he pulls out a drawing of Star's Wand as well as a makeshift spell book written by Star herself.

'I got your notebook from this weird slot machine!' he writes. Oh boy more time nonsense.]

[THAT. THAT RIGHT THERE. THAT'S HER MARCO.]

Only twice over? A real squire would do it three times over!

[Then Lekmet shows her the drawings aaaaaand her face falls]

Ohhhhh. The wand. Funny story about that. I have no idea where it is right now.

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'NONE OF YOU ARE GOING TO DIE (AGAIN), ALRIGHT?'

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