Letters to the Phantom

[You may now write letters to the Phantom!

Each of you will find plenty of stationery in the drawers of your vanities, along with candles, a block of sealing wax, and a stamp with your initial on it. You can use these to seal your envelopes in style!

Letters may be dropped into the flap at the Box Office at any time. Replies will appear in your dressing rooms, occasionally quite quickly. Sitting in your room to keep watch won't let you see how they're brought; they'll just appear whenever you happen to leave or fall asleep. Yes, they can be delivered overnight. Probably don't think about it too hard.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Sent that first night after the Phantom made his appearance.]

Dear Mr. Phantom,

Okay, I know we all kind of ganged up on you earlier and that wasn't super great or anything but please don't hurt Christine! She's innocent and nice and good and it's really unfair that you brought her here.

[There's a weird ink splotch and a pen drag, like someone wrestled control of a pen away from Jeremy.]

Hello. Do you prefer to be addressed as "the Phantom of the Opera," or should I refer to you as "Mr. Y"? Regardless, I'm sure you're aware of my presence if you brought Jeremy here. I'd like to know your intentions in bringing us to your opera house and the chances that we might work together. My directive is to improve Jeremy's life, and I can see only one route toward that goal since improving Jeremy's life by necessity means he must be alive.

Regards,
SQUIP

[The following is entirely in French, because it is not for Jeremy! Fuck Jeremy Heere specifically]

Unimportant. You may refer to me as the Phantom.

You and I can work together. Provide me with information about the subjects' activities, and intervene when I ask, and I will spare your host's life in the event of a mass execution.

[Also, mass executions are a thing! Have not mentioned that previously!]

[Oh. Okay. It just be like that? Mass executions and these letters are in French? Sure. The reply is in French too, because the Squip would hate to offend.]

Phantom it is, then. What sort of information about their activities do you seek, since surely you're monitoring us anyway? I'd hate for the information I give you to be useless, after all. That wouldn't make for a very good bargain. Even if intervention is a simple matter.

Regards,
SQUIP

There are blind spots within the Opera House. Besides, it never hurts to have backups. Isn't that right?

They will attempt to determine the limits of my sight sooner or later. I want to know what they try to keep secret. Intervention will be on an as-needed basis.

Regards

LET US FREE.

YOU WON'T KEEP US LOCKED IN YOUR PRISON FOREVER.

YOU AND YOUR ALLIES WILL FALL.

Two questions;

1. What do we call you? Just 'Phantom'?
2. I was with a group of people. What happened to them?

To My Esteemed Host,

Surely by now you've realized you've made a mistake. I may be cast out of God's favor, but I doubt He will take kindly to the abduction of one of his own. You may do well to consider releasing me, before you invoke His wrath. It may not be as dire as stealing away his true Beloved, but He will surely seek Divine Retribution.

That is, of course, unless you were put up to this, and it is all a part of our game. If so, I must say, I expected underhanded tactics, but nothing so bold.

So then, Sir Phantom, allow me to ask -- what side are you on? And if your side is your own, what can I do to entice you to allow me to join in this game?

Yours,

Mephisto

Riveting correspondence.

1. Phantom is acceptable.
2. They are where you left them.

Justice will prevail, I swear it!

I'm sure. Please cease writing me unless you have something new to say.

As long as your box office is open, these letters will not cease.

I assure you, you won't get anything by being a pest.

Dear Mephisto,

No mistake was made. The irregularities in your profile are for your benefit. Terribly hard to get people to trust you, with a name like that. How would you ever get away with anything?

I am on my own side. As to joining the game - what are you suggesting?

- O.G.

My Mysterious Captor,

I suppose you are correct, though I cannot say that many of those here would draw the connection. I use the term Godless so rarely -- so many use it with grotesque negativity. Truly, it would be a relief to not be known.

... But you are correct. This allows me more freedom than my true name might. For that, I should express my gratitude. I do not appreciate the game, but I can at least appreciate the care you've put into it.

Surely you've thought about having eyes on the inside. I'm sure you've seen already that I have been solicited for assistance in breaking down doors. There's a level of trust amongst those here that's already being built. A trust you will never have hands in. Surely that might be to your benefit.

With Respect,

Mephisto

Mephisto,

It would be a mistake to think that I am not watching and listening. But you are correct - there are places where I cannot watch you. If you wish to provide information about your compatriots' secret dealings, it would be appreciated.

OG

[okay, so we're doing this!]

My Esteemed Ally,

I suppose it would be too much to ask where you don't have said eyes and ears -- I imagine it would be so aggravating to have that which you know already repeated back to you. But as I would hope you would not ask for me to reveal my own weaknesses, I will not ask of yours.

You need only consider it done, dear friend. I look forward to working with you.

Your Dearest Compatriot,
Mephisto

Dear Mr. The Phantom,

Hi there, this is Steven! Universe, not Dr. Browning. I think we might've gotten off on the wrong foot the other day, and I thought you might just want to talk!

Do you have a name besides The Phantom you'd like to use?

Sincerely,
Steven Q. Universe

Dear Steven,

The Phantom is acceptable.

OG

And I look forward to working with you. It should prove very interesting.

OG

[It's already a bit funny to send a letter in the early hours of the morning, but Gems didn't necessarily need to sleep anyway. And they don't have to send letters either.

Or know how to.

But Spinel seems to have tried, and judging by the mess of wax on the sheet, repeatedly imprinted in the shape of her stamp, she was having A Time with that too.

The letter reads thusly,]

Hellooooooo

[..........sigh]

Yes?

As you may have gathered, they had a meeting today. Of the people present, I would say the ones to be most watchful of are Angus and Sigyn as they appear to be determined to discover the secrets of this place. Angus found some sort of chamber below the opera house and they've arranged to explore it tomorrow, I believe. Stephen (not Steven) has figured out that their memories have been altered, through Riley's clever use of surveys. Fortunately, she doesn't appear to be bright enough to care about much more than whether or not you can be befriended.

The Mountain Dew is freaking Jeremy out because he's convinced you "squip'd everyone" even though I have assured him that no such thing has occurred. He's refusing to listen to me because his memories have been altered but his distrust of me remains. This is not ideal, but is only to be expected given the awkward circumstance you've put us in. I've tried to convince him to focus on Christine in an attempt to distract him from the missing time he's become aware of.

Johnny is another one to watch for, but less because he's smart and more because he's extremely unpredictable and also lacks the braincells to comprehend that actions might have consequences. His actions led to Jeremy being taken out of the meeting, but he's secured someone's update on what happened after we left.

Regards,
SQUIP

Monsieur le Fantôme,

I'm sure you're aware of this, but we had a meeting to discuss the finer points of our situation. In that meeting, Nana and I had a most unpleasant surprise: despite being from the same place, there are four months between the last thing she remembers and the last thing I remember.

My question is this: was there a specific reason for us not to be taken from the same time? I don't make a habit of abducting people, but I would think it would be easier to take two people at the same time.

Je vous prie d'agréer mes meilleures salutations,

Claudine

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 21

Letters to the Phantom

1/2

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Tuesday, Week 1

no subject

no subject

7/1

no subject

sent after riley and christine put jeremy to bed, post-meeting

no subject