Juliet hisses in a breath as she wakes up, almost sounding near tears that she chokes back. The chain around her waist is digging into the small of her back and she allows a sob to escape her as her hands fumble for it as if she's afraid she'll feel the pressure again as she slowly gets yanked back into that pit.
But the only thing she feels is the sting of snow on her bare arms and frost clinging to the metal. She runs her hands over her ribcage, wincing at the tender spots and confirming that nothing's broken- just very sore. That done, she disentangles herself from the chains with a sharp gasp and then sits up, cringing as the movement exacerbates her bruising. The cold is numbing, which helps, but she's not looking to be saved from one fate, only to die of hypothermia.
...Saved from one fate.
Time skips. She's used to that. But there's no snow on the island and the hydrogen bomb never detonated. She just remembers falling. Some cynical, bitter part of her thinks this could be Heaven, except Heaven would never be so cold.
She stands weakly, wrapping her arms around herself. She's dirty and bloodstained, bruised and freezing. She's not where she was and there are people... People who don't look like either the Others or the DHARMA folk.
And James isn't here...
She heaves a sigh and wills her resolve to come back to her. "I don't remember walking into any wardrobes," she deadpans, weakly, trying to force the acerbic humor back into her raw voice.
"That makes two of us," Chris muttered in response to the blonde woman who had just pushed herself up to stand a few meters from where he had been deposited in the snow. From what he could tell, everyone in the immediate area seemed to be just as clueless about their situation as the next person, which meant that who or whatever it was that had summoned them to this place hadn't chosen to stick around and mingle once the guests had arrived.
Climbing to his feet, Chris made sure to brush any clinging traces of snow from his pants before it could melt and give him a whole new perspective on the definition of blue balls. Wherever they were, it wasn't where he was supposed to be. The idea that Gideon had sent him here to get him out of the way crossed his mind briefly, but then that didn't exactly account for the handful of other people who all seemed to be in the same boat as him at the moment.
"Ten bucks says that thing over there has something to do with it, though." He nodded in the direction of the glowing arch. "Either that, or someone's got a serious thing for tacky lawn ornaments."
Juliet glances over, a ghost of a smile crossing her features, neither pleasant nor threatening- simply neutral, much like everything about her. It feels false, but then again, it always has been. Veils of neutrality.
She follows his gaze, but doesn't step forwards. Between the temple and that statue, she's developed an aversion to things like that. It's old and suggests too much and something about it sends a chill down her spine.
Or maybe that's the cold on her bare arms.
"It's an archway," she says, not so much explaining as if confirming it to herself. She finally dares to take a step further and nearly trips- the chain's tangled around her foot now. She growls slightly and leans down to disentangle it. The stupid thing wasn't going to leave her alone for a minute.
"So you don't know anything about it, either? Or who they are?" She points the other people assembled in the area out.
"No idea," Chris asserted, after scanning the small crowd of people who seemed to be just waking up for any signs of a familiar face. It made him uneasy knowing that both Phoebe and Paige were still under some sort of spell, leaving Gideon with a free pass to get to Wyatt what with no one else left to protect him. The worst part of it all was that he couldn't even seem to sense Wyatt anymore--or Piper, or Phoebe.
While the thought that he might have been sent to Limbo or somewhere similar had crossed his mind, it didn't seem likely given that he could sense that Paige was somewhere not too far away. Who all these other people were or where they had come from, on the other hand...
"You look like hell--no offense. I mean..." Yeah, way to insult the nice lady, Chris. "What's the last thing you remember before ending up here?" Because if it had anything to do with dying, then he really needed to find some way to escape the afterlife, and get back to his family.
"I was being dragged into a pocket of electromagnetic energy," Juliet deadpanned, like that was a completely normal thing to happen to someone. "I don't think I'm dead. Then again, I guess I wouldn't think that, even if I were."
She shrugged and stepped closer to the arch, still tentative about the whole thing. "It just doesn't feel like you'd think an afterlife would."
Not that she knew what an afterlife would feel like, but it certainly would feel so unsettling- like she's being watched. It's like the island in some ways, but without that comforting familiarity in the chaos.
Oh, that's all? Chris folded his arms over his chest in some unconscious effort to offer himself a bit of comfort in light of the fact that they were all probably dead, whether any of them wanted to believe it or not.
After watching Juliet examine the glowing arch momentarily, Chris stepped closer to the object as well, his attention shifting from the blonde at his side to the large stone structure that stood before them. It was definitely unlike anything he had ever seen before.
"This thing is definitely magical." Mostly, he was just thinking aloud at this point. For whatever reason, the idea of talking magic in front of Juliet didn't concern him all that much at the moment. There were more pressing things to worry about.
"It's strange..." He added, moving in a little bit closer to try and read the inscription that had been etched into the stone surface, "I've never seen anything like it."
Huh.
"Can you make anything of this?" Said as he turned back toward her. "It reads like a song lyric, or a nursery rhyme..."
"You say that like that's a normal explanation." To be honest, she could have sounded a great deal more surprised about that, but at the moment, pleasant neutrality was all anyone was getting. It was either that or break down crying and she wasn't going that far in front of strangers.
She stepped closer to read the inscription, frowning at it, and then hesitating only momentarily before laying a hand on it.
"One's for the leaving, one's for returning," she murmured, before straightening up and staring at the broken, glowing arch. "Maybe there's two of them. If we came through that one, maybe there's another one that leads out."
Sounds a bit fairy tale to her, but what part of her life isn't a science fiction novel waiting to happen? Fantasy's at least a little more whimsical.
"It would make sense..." Chris replied, while racking his brain for any mention of magical doorways or mystical arches from the Book of Shadows. Nothing really came to mind, unfortunately.
"We'd just have to figure out where the other one is, and walk through it." Well, in theory anyway. It could also make everyone's heads explode--there was no real way of knowing for sure.
But the only thing she feels is the sting of snow on her bare arms and frost clinging to the metal. She runs her hands over her ribcage, wincing at the tender spots and confirming that nothing's broken- just very sore. That done, she disentangles herself from the chains with a sharp gasp and then sits up, cringing as the movement exacerbates her bruising. The cold is numbing, which helps, but she's not looking to be saved from one fate, only to die of hypothermia.
...Saved from one fate.
Time skips. She's used to that. But there's no snow on the island and the hydrogen bomb never detonated. She just remembers falling. Some cynical, bitter part of her thinks this could be Heaven, except Heaven would never be so cold.
She stands weakly, wrapping her arms around herself. She's dirty and bloodstained, bruised and freezing. She's not where she was and there are people... People who don't look like either the Others or the DHARMA folk.
And James isn't here...
She heaves a sigh and wills her resolve to come back to her. "I don't remember walking into any wardrobes," she deadpans, weakly, trying to force the acerbic humor back into her raw voice.
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Climbing to his feet, Chris made sure to brush any clinging traces of snow from his pants before it could melt and give him a whole new perspective on the definition of blue balls. Wherever they were, it wasn't where he was supposed to be. The idea that Gideon had sent him here to get him out of the way crossed his mind briefly, but then that didn't exactly account for the handful of other people who all seemed to be in the same boat as him at the moment.
"Ten bucks says that thing over there has something to do with it, though." He nodded in the direction of the glowing arch. "Either that, or someone's got a serious thing for tacky lawn ornaments."
Reply
She follows his gaze, but doesn't step forwards. Between the temple and that statue, she's developed an aversion to things like that. It's old and suggests too much and something about it sends a chill down her spine.
Or maybe that's the cold on her bare arms.
"It's an archway," she says, not so much explaining as if confirming it to herself. She finally dares to take a step further and nearly trips- the chain's tangled around her foot now. She growls slightly and leans down to disentangle it. The stupid thing wasn't going to leave her alone for a minute.
"So you don't know anything about it, either? Or who they are?" She points the other people assembled in the area out.
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While the thought that he might have been sent to Limbo or somewhere similar had crossed his mind, it didn't seem likely given that he could sense that Paige was somewhere not too far away. Who all these other people were or where they had come from, on the other hand...
"You look like hell--no offense. I mean..." Yeah, way to insult the nice lady, Chris. "What's the last thing you remember before ending up here?" Because if it had anything to do with dying, then he really needed to find some way to escape the afterlife, and get back to his family.
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She shrugged and stepped closer to the arch, still tentative about the whole thing. "It just doesn't feel like you'd think an afterlife would."
Not that she knew what an afterlife would feel like, but it certainly would feel so unsettling- like she's being watched. It's like the island in some ways, but without that comforting familiarity in the chaos.
Reply
After watching Juliet examine the glowing arch momentarily, Chris stepped closer to the object as well, his attention shifting from the blonde at his side to the large stone structure that stood before them. It was definitely unlike anything he had ever seen before.
"This thing is definitely magical." Mostly, he was just thinking aloud at this point. For whatever reason, the idea of talking magic in front of Juliet didn't concern him all that much at the moment. There were more pressing things to worry about.
"It's strange..." He added, moving in a little bit closer to try and read the inscription that had been etched into the stone surface, "I've never seen anything like it."
Huh.
"Can you make anything of this?" Said as he turned back toward her. "It reads like a song lyric, or a nursery rhyme..."
Reply
She stepped closer to read the inscription, frowning at it, and then hesitating only momentarily before laying a hand on it.
"One's for the leaving, one's for returning," she murmured, before straightening up and staring at the broken, glowing arch. "Maybe there's two of them. If we came through that one, maybe there's another one that leads out."
Sounds a bit fairy tale to her, but what part of her life isn't a science fiction novel waiting to happen? Fantasy's at least a little more whimsical.
Reply
"We'd just have to figure out where the other one is, and walk through it." Well, in theory anyway. It could also make everyone's heads explode--there was no real way of knowing for sure.
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