Work Text:
Ă̸̛͎̚͠c̴̗̰̟͖͎̈́̎͌̂̇̕̕͜t̶͍̑̉̀̓̒ ̷̛̗̙͉̹̀̆̌̈́̌I̸͖̼̠̠̅̋͋̇͜
S̴̛̘̗͚̆̀̓͘c̶̦̟̹͎̹̫͛̋͊̀͑̊͜e̴͖͊̐̑̕͝͝͝n̸̥͈͛̀̀e̵͙̮͊ ̶͖̣̺̬̱̈́̃͌1̴̧̳͕̥̩̊͝
Setting: A temple. A stage. A grave.
At Rise: S̵h̴e̴ ̶i̵s̶ ̵h̵e̵r̵e̴ S̷͍̹̒h̵̘̆͝e̵̘̗̐͝ ̶̮͒͝į̶̔s̶̡̪̽͑ ̶͍̀h̴͔̭͊ẽ̷͎̞̄r̵͕̀̀e̶̼̫͋̂ S̴̡̛̰͈̭̃̈̋̆͘h̴͇̱͎̼̬͗ḗ̴̢̩̩̳̫̀̅͑̉̓͠ ̷̢͙͑̍̊̀̑͑͘ị̶̑̓͂̄ş̵̰̯̤̥̤̗̈́͒͌͂̐ ̷̤̭̙͔͚̫̀̀̍͗̓̓̕͠h̶̡̛̏̊́̑͠e̷̢̬̠̦̋͑̀͝͝͠r̵̠̜̃̃̅̓e̸͙̟͘͝ Ş̴̣̜̼̟̠̣̬̻͆̿̏̿͂̿͑́̀̂͋͝ḫ̴̛̭͎͔̲̞̾̍̽̄̃͘e̴̝͖̘̳͉͙̫̝̅͋͒̋̍͌̓͋̾͜ͅ ̷̤̻̗̹̣̃̆̊̾́̚į̴̬̩̜͚͕̍͗̒͑s̸͎̥̮̽̊̆́́̑̄̅̂ ̸̨̛͍͙̗̘̣̞̫͚̉͊̈́͆́̓́̽͜͝͠h̶̨̡͔͎̘̼̤̥̖͐̐͗̈͠͝͠͝͝ȩ̶̼̖̟̩͙̩̈́̋r̴̡̖̞͉̪̞̆́̑̔̂ę̷̛̛͇̣̘͙͙̰̦̪͓̲̗̻̔͑̏̔̇̑̚͝
(THE TRAGEDY of THE PANTO is backstage. With any luck, it will not be needed at all.
It's creators did not much care for luck.)
(Later, decades from now, there will be a man. His name will be HALANDIL FANG and he will be everything THE TRUTH should be. But this is now, and now, there is only the stage.
It waits, in what will soon be neither a temple nor a stage or even a grave, as the others of THE PANTO recite their lines.)
(Later, years from now, he will regret that he did not act sooner. But there is improvisation and there is going off script, and THE TRAGEDY did not then know the difference.
That's what makes it a tragedy, you see?)
(Things are going according to script. At the time, THE TRAGEDY assumed this meant things were going well.
But something in the dialogue must tip H̸̡̛̛̛̙̥̤̠̻̞̱̆̑͒̂̏̀͊̾̿͘̕Ę̴̡̼̫̩̰̱̥͇̲̲̦̦̟͙̥̺͓̫̯̘̆̎̈́̐̃͗͂̾̆̏͗̊̏͛͂͗̚̚͘̕ͅŘ̵̢̨̛͓̹̞͓̭̗̲̭̗͙͙̺̭͆͛̓͗̈́̾͋ (HER) off.
Actually, it was probably something about the way that there was no audience for THE PANTO to play off of, something in the way the rest of H̸̡̛̛̛̙̥̤̠̻̞̱̆̑͒̂̏̀͊̾̿͘̕Ę̴̡̼̫̩̰̱̥͇̲̲̦̦̟͙̥̺͓̫̯̘̆̎̈́̐̃͗͂̾̆̏͗̊̏͛͂͗̚̚͘̕ͅŘ̵̢̨̛͓̹̞͓̭̗̲̭̗͙͙̺̭͆͛̓͗̈́̾͋ (HER) PANTHEON were being killed left right and centre.
Whatever it was, S̷̨̧̛͕̘̹̯̫̺͎̥͓̟̱͕̦̹̩̓͋̓Ḩ̴̗̥͚͈̩͕̬̲̤̌̓̿̎͊̎̒̋̈̉͂̃̈̕͝É̵͕̟̱̞̲̱̬̩̹̬̠̗̲̝̓̓͂̈́̂̄̒́͘͝͝ (SHE) noticed.)
H̸̡̛̛̛̙̥̤̠̻̞̱̆̑͒̂̏̀͊̾̿͘̕Ę̴̡̼̫̩̰̱̥͇̲̲̦̦̟͙̥̺͓̫̯̘̆̎̈́̐̃͗͂̾̆̏͗̊̏͛͂͗̚̚͘̕ͅŘ̵̢̨̛͓̹̞͓̭̗̲̭̗͙͙̺̭͆͛̓͗̈́̾͋ (HER)
[S̷̨̧̛͕̘̹̯̫̺͎̥͓̟̱͕̦̹̩̓͋̓Ḩ̴̗̥͚͈̩͕̬̲̤̌̓̿̎͊̎̒̋̈̉͂̃̈̕͝É̵͕̟̱̞̲̱̬̩̹̬̠̗̲̝̓̓͂̈́̂̄̒́͘͝͝ (SHE) goes off script. He could not tell you what S̷̨̧̛͕̘̹̯̫̺͎̥͓̟̱͕̦̹̩̓͋̓Ḩ̴̗̥͚͈̩͕̬̲̤̌̓̿̎͊̎̒̋̈̉͂̃̈̕͝É̵͕̟̱̞̲̱̬̩̹̬̠̗̲̝̓̓͂̈́̂̄̒́͘͝͝ (SHE) said, later, only that it was not in the script.]
(The rest of THE PANTO falter; hesitate; panic, though they did not then know enough to call it that.
It gets OLBALAD killed. The member of THE PANTO that was wearing her is fractured, cracked, falling apart from the blow.)
(THE TRAGEDY does not hesitate. It does not falter. It was built for this part, after all.
It's creators did not much care for luck.)
(He should have moved quicker. But it did not then know the difference between improvisation and going off script. It assumed that S̷̨̧̛͕̘̹̯̫̺͎̥͓̟̱͕̦̹̩̓͋̓Ḩ̴̗̥͚͈̩͕̬̲̤̌̓̿̎͊̎̒̋̈̉͂̃̈̕͝É̵͕̟̱̞̲̱̬̩̹̬̠̗̲̝̓̓͂̈́̂̄̒́͘͝͝ (SHE) was simply improvising. Their creators had left most of H̸̡̛̛̛̙̥̤̠̻̞̱̆̑͒̂̏̀͊̾̿͘̕Ę̴̡̼̫̩̰̱̥͇̲̲̦̦̟͙̥̺͓̫̯̘̆̎̈́̐̃͗͂̾̆̏͗̊̏͛͂͗̚̚͘̕ͅŘ̵̢̨̛͓̹̞͓̭̗̲̭̗͙͙̺̭͆͛̓͗̈́̾͋ (HER) lines empty for that very purpose, after all.
That misunderstanding nearly got them all killed.)