"-No, Marcellus! You absolute idiot! Why haven't you memorized your lines, yet? I have given you weeks!"
Professor Rickman was in an ominous mood today.
The 'official' rehearsal for the Noble Academy Senior Second Year Spring Production has taken off and... well, a majority of the students are working hard.
Unfortunately, there are still some areas that need to be fixed...
(Such as the two main leads.)
Neo wished he could steer clear of his professor, (he really did), but he had witnessed the man blow up more than once at the students playing supporting roles this whole day, so he was mostly obedient throughout rehearsal.
He had worked on a few solo scenes, which, according to Professor Rickman's, was satisfactory.
He truly regrets trying on that quiz on the alchemical elements. If he had known that it was the deciding factor for their roles in the annual school play, he would have taken notes from his former self and bombed the test entirely.
At least then, he would have been demoted to the technical department.
Now that he thinks about it, Tybalt is the only person who got the same role he had last time.
Finneas never played Sir Gilde. The person who played that character was actually Fredrick Meyers, who--for some reason--was transferred out of the class a few months back.
On the other hand, Finneas played Lady Rose.
... Which may have been befitting back then... but...
Neo glanced over towards the opposite side of the stage and saw the other boy cuss out a student who was trying to convince him to wear a giant tricorn hat that was definitely not historically accurate to the period of the Tragedy of Ohmlet.
As it turns out, Finneas isn't the unknown factor. Nazareth was just too much of a douche and was able to repress the sharp-tongued boy through fear.
Neo also believed it might have been vengeance stewing inside him that resulted in his betrayal.
There was a terrorist attack that Nazareth ordered in Third Year that ultimately killed many students and, unfortunately, Professor Rickman. He died protecting the students and was buried alive in the rubbles of the damage.
Professor Rickman is related to Finneas through his mother's side.
And apparently, he's the favorite uncle.
Neo looks down at his hands, shaking away the remnants of a memory that he wishes to forget.
It does him no good to remember his contact with the Iron Lotus.
Now, where was he regarding the role swapping?
Ah, yes.
So this time around, since Fredrick is no longer in the class, Finneas is the second option for Sir Gilde.
As for Lady Rose...
He should have just bombed that test!
Another thing that's surprising is Royce's role in the production.
Back then, he was in the costume department and hadn't gotten a role.
However, Royce went to school back in the modern world. He might not remember the entire periodic table, but he should know a decent amount if he was making jewelry.
Chemical compounds are important to remember when you're figuring out how to make synthetic gems.
Which is why he is currently playing the Nurse...
They have should just bombed that test!
Well, at least the Nurse could actually fight. Despite the fact that the character barely makes it to scene three, she gets a lot of action scenes with Tybalt, who is playing Lady Rose's Cousin.
On the other hand, the chances of him and Finneas being totally screwed when Professor Rickman watches them perform together is very much at large
At the same time, it isn't surprising that the professor is stressed and may or may not contemplate killing his lead actors once he realizes what a horrible mistake he's made choosing them as his leads.
The class will be performing in front of a massive audience in two and a half weeks' time.
A massive audience of nobles.
With that type of pressure, the upper society will either know this production as one of the best they've ever had the pleasure of seeing or a trash fire piece of garbage that the renowned Erick Rickman directed and produced all by himself.
The scandal it will create is going to be mortifying if this is the case.
Wearing a white bedsheet that's supposed to be a 'nightgown', Neo can already imagine the social suicide of this class.
"Odum! Where is Odum?! And Finneas! Somebody get those two dunderheads over here right this instance! We're going over the balcony scene!"
A blonde wig was shoved onto Neo's head like a bird's nest. He feels someone shove two apples into his shirt.
Wait.
"What are you-"
"Go!"
Lady Lettuse pushes him out onto the stage, rushing out after him with a bundle of... rope...
"Here's the cable, professor."
"Excellent, Miss Lettuse. Tie that around Odum. He's going to fling himself off the balcony today."
No one deigned to acknowledge the deadpanned look on Neo's face as they rushed around the stage getting everything ready.
"Someone get something to support Odum's chest! The apples are starting to fall out!"
"Do I have to wear the apples?"
Everyone ignored the crossdressing boy.
Ah, yes. The famous balcony scene in the Tragedy of Ohmlet.
Most people in Rhine know this scene quite well.
It goes a little something like this:
Lady Rose is monologuing about how much she loves Gilde oh so much and can't live without him. Gilde sneaks into her backyard in a shady manner that's supposed to be romantic. He spies on her for a while as she's talking.
Then, after--like, five minutes of just Rose talking and talking about love and the beauty of Gilde--Gilde jumps out of the bushes like a complete psychopath and shouts out his feeling for Rose, which inevitably startles the poor, fragile lady so, so much, that she, unfortunately, coughs out blood in her startlement and proceeds to fall over--somehow going as far as to trip over the air--and accidentally fling herself off the balcony rails.
And then Gilde catches her oh so swiftly and they kiss.
Which ends the scene there.
Yeah...
Neo wants to cry as his classmate ties the rope around his waist and gives him a cashmere jacket.
Not to wear, of course. Obviously, he's supposed to wear it on his shoulder to hide the safety cords... along with the apples that were slowly slipping down his shirt.
With an emotionlessly passive face, Neo does as he is told and puts the jacket around himself.
He looks at the balcony that the stage design technicians have made solely for this production.
So, they're really going to do this?
Like, legit?
Deadass.
He stares at Professor Rickman one last time, trying to channel Vespera's gaze.
Neo watches as he meets his gaze with his own resting bitch face.
It was like a battle between a dragon and a tiger. Tense. Dramatic. Badass--
Neo lost.
"Come on, Odum! We don't have all day!"
He's not going to do this.
"Someone get the ladder!"
He's going to ask a girl to change roles with him. This whole charade has gone on long enough, and he's pretty sure Professor Rickman is screwing with him!
"Yes, Professor!"
There is no way he's getting on that balcony.
---
He climbs onto the fucking balcony.
"Edinburgh, adjust Odum's wig. It's about to fall off."
The wig gets adjusted.
"Odum! You look miserable. Fix your face!"
The face is fixed with the help of a stagehand.
"Where is Finneas? Is he in position?"
The fake bushes on the stage rustle.
"Yes, Professor."
Rickman huffs.
"Well, get on with it, then. You may begin!"
The light pearls dim on the stage, the biggest one shining their rays on one spot alone.
The balcony.
Neo takes a breath and begins speaking.
---
Fuck this shit.
Finneas smiled his most innocent smile full of "young love" and entered the scene like a creepy stalker.
Watching Odum's monologue was painful enough--seeing as Odum looks like he wants to crawl into a hole and die.
There was nothing romantic about his portrayal of Lady Rose.
Mostly because his wig is slowly slipping off with every swoon he makes and the apples on his chest are literally rolling off the balcony!
"--sweetest of kisses..."
His voice is also tortuously monotone as he delivers his line.
The only thing saving his performance is all the swooning he's been doing to mask the lack of emotions in his acting.
"-I take all myself."
That's his cue.
Jumping out of the "bushes" like a maniac, Finneas played the part of Gilde and declared his, er, undying love--for Lady Rose.
He watches beneath the lovesick facade as Odum gives him a deadpanned stare and swoons again, letting out a half-assed cough into his hand--which was covered in red lipstick--and wiped the "blood" onto the corner of his mouth.
To be honest, if Finneas didn't have the restraint he had honed since meeting Odum, he would have been scare shitless.
Whoever thought that women coughing blood back then was considered attractive has certainly never met Odum's acting.
The red lipstick was rubbed all over his chin and mouth and made him look like a vengeful demon out for blood.
The dimmed stage and the bright spotlight did nothing to make him appear any less terrifying than he did now.
And Finneas has front row seats as he watches Lady Rose feign a startled shock, dramatically walking the rest of the five feet distance to the edge of the balcony--coughing as he did so--and proceeds to tip back and fling himself off the rails like a helpless maiden.
The rope stresses around his waist.
What happens after can only be called a dramatic slo-mo fall, with music and lights in the background.
Finneas tries his hardest to not roll his eyes as he slowly runs towards Odum in a dramatic fashion and slowly wraps his hand around the still falling boy, performing the famous bridal catch in the play.
"Oh! Gilde! You saved me!"
Finneas almost drops him when he sees the fake blood slash lipstick up close on the other boy's face.
Odum narrowed his eyes in warning when he felt the lowkey jolt of nearly being released like a sack of oat. He attempted to smile to mask his irritation.
No, no. Please do not fucking do that. You look like you're going to kill someone.
And then they knocked their heads together to initiate the "passionate kissing scene" and the lights dim.
A round of applause went around.
"Excellent, the both of you. It was beautiful."
Beautiful my ass!
"Do it again. Odum, I want more expression in your delivery. Finneas, you have to run slower than that. Don't be so timid, you nitwit. Odum isn't going to kill you."
Fuck you, Uncle.
Finneas put Odum back down and shuffled back behind the bushes while the other was pulled back onto the balcony.
Neither looked very happy to do it again, but when the lights dimmed, the 'smiles' went back on.
---
Royce and Tybalt watched from the side of the stage as Finneas and Neo did their fifth retake.
Royce could see Neo's patience waning as Professor Rickman instructed him to swoon a little more.
How much does he have to swoon in this production!
The red-haired boy cringed.
"You would think the two of them would be more comfortable by now."
Tybalt commented, watching with a too-amused smile on his face. If food was allowed in the theatre, he would have brought sunflower seeds to snack on.
You know, because he can be quite the bastard.
Royce refrained from saying anything in reply as he watched Neo swoon for what looked to be the hundredth time today--is that really necessary for this production? It's like Rickman just wants him to keep swooning in hopes that no one will notice his atrocious acting.
Looking at said-Professor sitting in the front row, Royce couldn't help but notice the quirk of a smile on his lips.
The red-head shivered.
Or was he just screwing with him?
Poor, poor Neo...
"Royce!"
The youth turned at the call of his name to see Federick Meyers standing behind him with two large clothing bags in his arms.
"We got your costumes. Do you want to try them on? The fake blood finally dried on this one," He indicated to the white clothing bag which was labeled with bold letters:
Dead Nurse--Royce
Ah, yes. Because his character doesn't even make it to the end of the first act.
She gets stabbed a whole bunch of times by some of Gilde's comrades at the beginning of the show and is left for dead.
You'd think she would have died from that, but for some reason, she is able to hide her injuries and go back to serving Lady Rose for an entire week--somehow having the ability to perform three separate monologues, sword fight a gang, poison Gilde's adopted brother, and stab Lady Rose' Cousin once, before conceding to her injuries.
How is that woman still alive?!
"Tell me if the material is too stiff on this one. We used too much glue for the fake bloodstains."
Frederick mentions blithely as he zips up the costume over Royce's uniform.
"... Okay."
In the back of his mind, he wondered with some confusion.
Didn't Fredrick transfer out of class two months ago? Why is he working on costumes?
---
Tybalt tried his very best not laugh as Royce came out of the dressing room in a dress.
It looked more like a blue bedsheet stained in red ink.
Frederick eyed the boy and shrugged.
"I'm sure once you put on the wig and makeup, you'll look better."
The door to the dressing room slams open.
"Frederick! Get rid of the costumes and wigs. Someone just donated a few thousand gold pieces to the production. We're rich! This show has money, now!"
Tybalt and Royce looked at each other.
Tybalt raised a brow as if to say: Who do you think is our mysterious benefactor?
Royce shrugged and glanced at the stage, indicating his thoughts to be: Who else? I bet Neo doesn't even know.
In response to that, the lavender-eyed boy chuckled.
"Ah, to be an Odum."
"Indeed. Frederick, can I take this off?"
"Ah, yes. Just pull the zipper down and you should easily get it off."
Royce went back behind the changing curtains and did as he was told.
A few seconds later, he popped his head out.
"... Frederick, I don't think the glue's dried."
"Huh?"
Tybalt watched as Royce struggled a little more with his costume.
A moment later--
"Guys, I think I'm stuck..."
---
Crash!
Both Neo and Finneas paused at what they were doing and turned to the sound.
"Professor! Royce is glued to his costume!"
"What?! How did that idiot somehow manage to achieve such a stupid feat?!"
"Professor, we need your help! It's stuck to his whole body!"
Rickman rose from his seat and stormed backstage.
Neo watched as his back disappeared behind the curtains.
"Who's in charge of the costume?!"
"Royce, I need you to relax. This won't... hurt... a lot!"
A sound that was similar to waxing echoed loudly, followed by a scream.
Neo and Finneas both looked at one another with confusion.
Neo laughed, almost nervously. "That... Hahaha... It sounds like they ripped it off..."
"Because they fucking did."
Both boys rushed backstage.
A crowd of people stood around a bench.
"Royce! Are you alright?"
Neo hears a voice coming from the bench.
"... No... I think I'm ready to go home, now."
Neo noticed Tybalt standing not far away from within the crowd.
They locked eyes.
The other boy only gave a nervous smile, gazed pointedly at the bench, and shook his head.
Professor Rickman ended rehearsal after that.
He also took out what looked to be a bottle of alcohol and claimed he was going to go grade papers.
Everyone was dismissed from the theatre.