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It wasn't supposed to be like this. Or was it? Could anything be truly stopped once it began? They say everything we do it a beginning, a catalyst that sets off a chain reaction of events. We never know exactly what will happen but when we look back we can find that one moment that started everything. I suppose that is true. There was a moment, long before any of you were born, that was the pebble dropped in the pond of time. It rippled out towards the shores but instead of washing easily on the sands, losing its momentum, and rolling back into the waters it grew in strength. Like a tsunami that crashed out of control and took out everything in its path. The threads of time holding everything in place not simply cut but utterly destroyed and it causing a catastrophic domino effect where everything fell into itself. Where all life both existed and was nonexistent. Careful where you step, because you could suddenly be replaced by another. Are you living? Are you dead? I don't know. All I know is that everything is colliding and we are somewhere within the In-Between. How did we get here? Let's look.


In a small one room apartment above Club Afterdark, Parliament lay unmoving on his bed. Faith had asked her questions and if he could have nodded or given her a look of understanding he would have. Thing was, a man in his condition couldn't move anymore. Yet he could move things. The voices that seemed to come from the writhing intestines silenced and Siduri looked towards the man. Her brows furrowing. "I never meant for her to go," she finally said after a long silence. Her voice was stern and cold as ice.

"We all are but she may be the only one that can get to her." It was Parliaments voice but not from the open cavity of his body, it came to Faiths mind. "I do not have much time, so listen carefully. The timelines are collapsing. We do not know when it began or how. We just know it is happening. This is the last semi-stable one. Our only hope for you to get her is to go before it collapses here fully, or you could end up stranded, in the middle, somewhere. This was not the plan. Siduri hoped to stop her from leaving, and then hoped to get you here soon enough to help us contact her. All we have now is for you to go to her." His voice rang clear in Faiths mind and Siduri held this look sweeping across her features that she was anything but happy.

"Forgive me child," Parliament said before Faith would feel something akin to an increased weight go through her veins. It wasn't painful but it was disturbing. Like she was being controlled, like puppet. Siduri's eyes widened and she rushed forward, her pink eyes flashing but she was held in place and lifted off the ground by an unseen force. "Either help me or where she lands I have no control over." It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be a talk, a training session, but it seemed the dice had been tossed and there were two choices. To roll with it or fight against it. One left one in the unknown, the other left one dead. Better to survive to fight another day.

Siduri nodded. The grasp of whatever held her releasing her. For a woman that gave little expression she showed one today. Confusion and understanding, anger and pity. It mixed together in a haze as she slowly stepped towards Faith. "We just have to have Faith..." It was an odd thing to say. Did she mean faith in general? Or was Faith herself what they needed? It was not something one was left to ponder as Siduri placed her hands on either side of Faiths temples. Somehow, Faith's body began to shift. Going glassy but it didn't stop there. It faded into the floor, into the walls, into everything without a consciousness around her. Vision for Faith will go from Haze to as if she is looking through a kaleidoscope. There is a single ray of light focused to one side, almost steel gray among the rainbow of bright colors. Faith feels pulled in that direction.


How long had it been? Far longer than she would like to admit, not long enough to find answers. Only enough time to survive. Perhaps. Time was relative, no place more so than here. It was as if time had stood still since the dawn of time itself and yet moved forward far beyond anything she could remember seeing. What was day or night? The sun rose and it set. But it wasn't the sun she knew. It wasn't the moon she watched turn phases to mark each month. Sulfur, always the smell of sulfur in the air. Was this hell? Perhaps, by someone's definition. Perhaps even by her own centuries before but it wasn't what she would deem as hell now. Nor was it heaven. All she could call it was the In-Between. Perhaps there was a better name for it but it didn't matter. She hadn't spoken to nor even seen someone in what felt like a life time. Save herself. Sometimes all you had was yourself.

It had begun simple enough. A pull. A familiar pull. She had to see. She couldn't mix them up in this. Had she known, perhaps she would have asked one along. Then again, why would she wish them here? She wouldn't. There were few she would wish in this place. The dust kicked up around her, winding through the strips of leather that brushed her boots. Then, there was a pull. Her eyes, like worn gunmetal in hues of blue and green snapped to one side as her head jerked. "No..." A whispered plea but she knew she wasn't mistaken. From the mouth of the cave where she stood, she began to run. Fists pumping as feet found ground. Remember the traps, avoid them. Keep running. To the waters edge.

Never go into the deep waters. Things below the surface will try to drag you down with them. Things lost. Things that need to remain lost. Yet she knew something was below the surface that shouldn't be lost. Feet in the water up to her ankles she stopped and looked around. She could feel it, but where? The waters muddled everything. Focus, pay attention. Something is different. It feels different. There it was. It looked like glass. Like a reflection looking back of her, or perhaps it was only on the other side. Reaching down, she couldn't get passed it. Her hand stopping. Beating on the glass, it refused to break. If she went around it, it spread. Something was holding the face, holding it there, keeping it below the surface. "You can't have her," she grunted as she drew a sword from her hip and brought it down. The glass shattering. Her other hand came down, wrapping under a waist. Hands clawing, trying to grab the girl and drag her back down below the surface.

"Faith! Wake up and fight!" Evelina yelled as she swung her sword again, it cutting through the water and hands pulling back from Faiths body only to try to grab her again.

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Faith didn’t know what happened. At one moment, she was with Siduri and Parliament, sitting and speaking, before she felt…odd. It wasn’t painful, but it felt like it should be. Parliament’s words echoed in her mind. The timelines collapsing and she was to be sent to wherever Eve was being held. Siduri hadn’t expected this or wanted this, it seemed. But soon, she felt both forces on her as she shifted and turned. Once in New York and then….

Gone.

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It was dark. Darker than she expected. It wasn’t like she was expecting a light from the sun, but something. And it was…wet? That was confusing. She opened her eyes briefly, feeling hands on her. Something to pull her up?

No, it was something to drag her down.

She opened her eyes fully now. She glanced around, not knowing where she was but that was supposed to be the case, right? She looked up and saw Eve attacking the glass-like wall with a sword. She felt pulled upwards and Faith swam as fast as she could to the shore. She struggled, but perseverance held out as she made her way closer and closer to Eve. Once at the top, she pulled herself out. She could breathe again. She allowed herself a few more moments to collect herself after that. The ordeal at Parliament’s and waking up to possible near death.

”Here to save you. You’re welcome.” she got out. At least her humor held.

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They were fucked. Pure and simple. Robert couldn't put it any other way, and it felt as if he'd used up all the words his brain could muster by this point. Adeliade was gone, vaporized and turned into a gust of wind right before his very eyes, something he couldn't understand. His brain wasn't wired like that, to believe the unbelievable, didn't work well in Insurance Fraud. Robert was a man of solid proof, tangible evidence that pointed in the direction of the truth. But this? His brain was in so much denial at this point that he didn't even have a mental breakdown that the world around him was falling apart.

And falling apart it just kept doing.

Robert wearily turned around again to talk to Mali and the shadow monster being torn apart, but his words got caught in his throat at the sight of the monster fading away. Just like Adelaide. This was…good? Robert supposed it was, until he noticed something else also fading away. The entire world around them. Robert turned his head in all directions, trying to wake up from this infernal nightmare that just wouldn't end. It had to be a nightmare. How else could he explain the world around him and Mali turning into a barren wasteland of a desert or something…and people? A young lady and a big man pinned under a door. The man, he looked familiar, didn't he?

"I have officially lost my marbles, haven't I? Okay, fucking okay, this would be a great time to wake up Robert!"

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Somehow, inner reserves of rage welled up within the aging form of Caesar Gonzalez, taking the metaphysical form of righteous indignation at the fact that, despite winning the battle (didn't they?), something had befallen those he cared about. Again. Where his daughter had gone off to this time was beyond him, and his ...associate? Kinda son-in-something? Ah! Cockney father to his grandchild. Yes, that might suffice for the time being. Well he was gone too, as if God had taken an eraser to them both. And when he had just gotten Alicia back, as well. These acts of divinity were prone to stabbing it in and breaking it off recently. But something told him that there was so much more going on. Perhaps this is all some sort of point-of-view problem. Or perhaps this huge chunk of masonry and car door was pissing him off and must therefore die. That was at least a problem he could solve. And how.

Caesar reached deep, growling obscenities in a shocking lower register, as if supplicating old world deities named Mierda and Chingados, drawing explosive power from the utterance of their WORD and force of intent. Mortared stone, concrete, reinforcing bars, and a single, errant car door leapt away from him as he sprung fully into a standing position, shotgun in one hand and hair blowing in a breeze that only seemed to touch him, his eyes alight with an ancient and terrifying aspect. His growl was the stuff that gave nightmares nightmares. He was Primal Caesar; force of nature. And tacos.

But whatever power he wielded was nothing against the tide of change around him. The world in which he stood became as a sandy, rocky, hazy Purgatory, and the people around him shifted, some fading out as others faded in. But as it was, they were known to him. He had seen them recently. Two of them he even shared a street with, blockmates or some such title invoking that sense of familiarity. Caesar had come geared to the nines for a fight. A battle, even. Lord knew he was dressed for it and carried enough sharp implements and munitions, but this was not a battle he appeared amidst. This was nothingness, with people he knew only by acquaintance. No loved ones, no trusted advisers, no able Lieutenants.

Perhaps only because he expected to be dead right now, did he accept the surroundings provided him. Maybe it was shock that would wear off, leaving him shaken to his core. But for right now, he looked at the people around him, and thought on regarding their names.

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What happens when worlds collide? So many have hypothesized over the centuries. Wondering if one world would be able to take over another, would they both find their demise? What would happen if time merged? Others have postulated but still no one exactly knows. Can the world itself handle when all the pages fold together into one? Or does everything shift into a place where time really has no meaning. It is said that time is relative and it seems that is true. Every thing cannot exist at once but perhaps a space, somewhere, beyond, can allow temporary housing for the times? For the time? No matter what one might think, one thing is for certain, something has happened and it if affecting more than just a single place in a single time and it is causing havoc for all. Where did they all go? We don't know. All we can do is follow the ones that are here but how long will they remain? Or will they fade away like so many others? I guess only time will tell.


A shot fired, a city appearing, the world giving away to a time elsewhere, or was it a time before. What questions are there? Oh so many. That means many remain. Where did we leave off? Oh yes, somewhere in Egypt. Sometime, times? There was a boat, a deck, looking out over the Nile, towards a city that wasn't there just moments ago but faded into view. It looked familiar to one or two, at least if one was to compare it to a description they had read about before. They hadn't actually seen it with their own eyes. No one had, not in several millennia. It was nothing more than a legend, wasn't it? Perhaps not, because they had seen it. But now it was gone. Everything was gone. Everyone but them. Just two of them for now. One marked, one nearly marked by death if the bullet hadn't faded away like the man that had pulled the trigger.

Whatever plans they had to seek help, or equipment, or even another breathing person was cut short as the world faded more. The colors of Egypt in the fall, the sands and grass and waters and ship were gone. Everything was shades of gray and black. A haze rising up, not like the haze before that seemed to disrupt their vision. This was more of a fog, like a dank English summer that rolled by and cut through the landscape like pea soup. Thick and sticky. It rose up in pillars from the ground and towards a black sky. Was the sky black? One couldn't tell. That same fog that seemed to roll over the ground rolled across the sky. Everything was still and it seemed so silent. Too silent.

Save for a few crackles. Was that a fire? Perhaps. There was a light. Several of them. Burning from something in the distance. And then the fog rolled in such a way to reveal what it was. It was torches burning within what looked to be iron cages. A jutting of black rock coming from the ground and someone standing there. Wait, where your eyes playing tricks on you? No, the fuzziness you were seeing it gone and you can see the details of the bones with perfect clarity. A skeleton, standing there, in worn robes, unmoving, a scythe in a hand. Like it had been set there as a warning? The robes were worn or were they? Or was that bandages? Like a mummy that had been unwrapped partially? It shouldn't be able to stand like that should it? No, bones should call to the ground when not being held together by flesh and skin. It shouldn't be standing there...

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Grunting, Evelina pulled and drug back on Faith. Repeating for her to wake up and fight. It seemed that the woman was listening. This was good. Evelina let go of Faiths waist as she came to and started to fight for herself. Pointing to the shore as she kept swinging at the dark hands that were coming out of the water for Faith and now Evelina. Where the hands coming from under the water or where they the water itself? It didn't matter. They seemed intent on getting a hold of both women and dragging them below the surface. Slowly, Evelina stepped backwards, swinging her sword down and left, bringing it back up, then swinging it down and right. Cutting through the water. It didn't seem to damage the hands coming for her but it did seem to cause them to retreat, even if only for a moment. A moment was all they needed. this obviously wasn't a fight to the death, just a fight to keep from dying. Better to retreat and fight another day. Or another year.

Traipsing onto the shores of the river and then fully out of the water, Evelina took a few deep breaths and wiped the back of her hand beneath her nose. Her eyes out over the river. The place looked desolate. Nothing but browns and grays and shades of black around them. The land was dry, with jagged rocks and cliffs and plains around them that were barren. The river itself was black and settled down quickly until it looked like a sheet of still black silk. The sky was just gray, like over cast on a dreary winter day but the air was moderate. It didn't seem warm nor cold but felt both at the same time. Coughing slightly, Evelina slipped her sword back through a loop that hung just below her bodice and in an essence sheathed it. It was only once the water had finally settled she risked looked over towards Faith.

Evelina's eyes went over Faith, her brow quirking as she saw what the woman was wearing and more so that she was carrying some soft of carpetbag. "Yeah, well don't expect me to buy whatever the hell it is you are selling in there. I don't need a set of encyclopedias," she said with a slight smirk on her lips. Turning she looked back from where she had initially run from. "Come on, we need to get out from the open. It isn't safe," she said as she started trudging towards one of the cliffs that shot out from the ground. It was hard to tell but as they got closer it was clear that there was a cave there. Inside there was a small fire burning and what looked like where Evelina had been camped out. There were markings on the wall, carved into the stone. Single lines that counted up to four before being crossed out. Hundreds of them lined the walls. Sitting down, Evelina pulled her boots off and dumped out the water in them. "Glad to see you still have fight in you, the souls are unforgiving when it comes to one invading their territory."

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One foot in front of the other. Walking. It was something she did. There was no particular reason why. It wasn't like she had anywhere to go, or anything to do. Yet she did anyways. Roaming. Perhaps it would have been safer to just hunker down somewhere but there was no point. One could go mad just sitting and waiting. And just what were you waiting for? Nothing of consequence. It was the same thing, day after day, year after year, decade after decade. If such things even existed in this place. She had stopped counting so long ago it. It didn't matter. She had become rather apathetic during her stent in the In-Between. There was no one to lead here, no quest to complete, no payment at the end, no family to return to or search for. No, things in that world, in that time, had ended for her. Rather abruptly. It wasn't expected and it wasn't welcome but at least it was over. She had stopped missing the sun on her skin or the way the moon light reflected off the river long ago.

At least she wasn't alone. It wasn't the same, he wasn't the same. Neither was she. They had to learn each other again. Over the years they had bonded. He, unlike others, did not try to rip her flesh from bone with his jaws. It had taken time but now, he was the closest thing she had to a friend and companion in this place. Not that she hadn't run into others, other she could speak with, but she didn't care to. She had him, he had her, they had each others backs, and he seemed to be willing to walk with her anywhere. The walking, it was what they did. Until they stopped. His ears perking, as her head snapped to one side. Looking down at him, her brow quirked. "You feel that?" she asked. Her lips didn't move but the large grey dire wolf standing by her bobbed his head. "Follow it," she added.

Jogging, at a moderate pace. Nothing strenuous but enough to pick up pace. Adjusting her bow that was strung across her chest as she did. Her long white hair flowing behind her. Stopping, looking at the air. It seemed to crackle and haze. Was that smoke? The smell of sulfur in the air? The canine growled slightly and she nodded before they kept moving. That was until something came into view. Or someone. No, not one someone. More than one someone. Several someone's. That made her stop, fully. The wolf stopping next to her. That was odd. She had seen people before but they didn't look like this. These were different. They seemed to fade into existence from nothing. The woman had stopped around twenty feet from the new comers, her head tilting to the side slowly with a blank expression on her features. Her eyes traveled from one to the next, stopping at the Mexican. She looked down at the wolf and nodded before looking back at the weathered angry looking Mexican. "He says you smell like a pugilist."

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Riley watched as Pyria started to fade completely listening to her last few words before fading away, she nodded slightly biting her bottom lip, before all of this happened she probably would have eventually called Pyria a friend. Riley started to drop to her knees seeing the same thing happening to Cecily now as well, trying to reach out for her. Tears started to go down the sides of her face, she really did love Cecily, even if Cecily didn't like her sexually she still loved her and would even give that up to be with her. "No, please don't leave me.." Riley said softly as she watched Cecily fading away just as she tried to get out her words, she had lost her sister not to long ago, and now she had just lost Cecily to whatever this all was.

Looking around the area seemed to suddenly change, they weren't even in Grimm anymore it seems as Riley looked around she hoped that Cecily was still alive somewhere around here. Caesar was still with her, the only person that she did actually know, well not really but she had a feeling she could trust him maybe. The other two people Riley didn't even know at all, she wasn't sure if she could trust them at all either. When she heard someone looking up seeing a woman she didn't recognize either, with a wolf next to her Riley looked to where Cecily and Pyria where they both were moments ago. "Where are we, and who are you?" Riley asked.

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Mosi was rather surprised both pleasantly and no so pleasantly as they too started to fade. She let out a groan, a curse and a sigh as they vanished. Sadly so much for her meeting up with her new friend from Cairo... There were other stuff she'd had wanted to do too, but it seemed it was time to move forward to a new journey. If she was dying from this... it wouldn't be too much to be a woman 20 years later once more... or in other words to be reborn. If this wasn't dying, she was hoping they find Redding on the other side. She had a really sharp knife to the balls to give him, the bastard coward that he was! Turning him into an eunuch would be already a mild enough punishment for trying to kill her!

Then all vanished and all reappeared! Sort of... ship, town, river, desert and sun were gone! Mosi blinked at the new sights." What the fucking hell?" She asked as they were at a location of a whole different nature. This was very bleak picture around them, darkness and fog and fires? " Well... can't say I expected the day to go in this direction when I woke up in the morning." She mumbled out, looking about, spotting a figure standing there on the rocks. She jumped into stance, hand reaching for her hip where a sword sheath usually hanged, but instead finding empty air, so she reached for the knife she carried. She was ready for battle as she stared at the figure, only realizing it's true nature moments later.

"HOLY GOLDEN CHICKEN OF RA! THAT'S A SKELETON WITH A SCYTHE!" Mosi exclaimed as she gazed at the thing. The grim atmosphere and the fires, the fog, all of these weren't as much interest to her right now as the skeleton with the scythe and the rags slash bandages for clothing.

The end of the world came with a surprising feeling of hollowness. Mali could imagine others around the world panicking over their impending demise, or the loss of loved ones. Or maybe they were one of those freaks who actively rooted one the end of all things. She certainly fell into the latter camp, and while she didn't want her folks and little sis back home to die, they didn't enter her thoughts as the world faded away around her. As far as she was concerned, this was merely the final lynch pin in the awful luck that had decided to follow her around since moved into the god forsaken city of Justice.

But, most surprising of all was that she stuck around. Evidently whatever fate or luck had been deciding things wasn't through with her. But not only was she there, but so was that one guy from the bookstore as well as her fellow Boston Heights residents Caesar and Riley, two people she knew more about than they did her. And a door. Perhaps most puzzling of all was how that single piece of external furniture was brought along with the rest of them to this desert purgatory. At least, that was Mali's best guess at what this was. Purgatory or Naraka, although Bookstore Guy thought he was dreaming.

Putting all else aside, it didn't feel right to do anything before getting Caesar free from that door that was pinning him. Even if he was somehow the mastermind that put them all in this situation, it wasn't like he could do much worse to them than half the things she'd seen in the past half hour. And it would be a dick move to just leave him pinned there. Mali was about to move to help lift the door off the elderly Mexican when suddenly a big ass wolf, far larger than any she'd seen before showed up and started sniffing him. That made her stop in her tracks real quick. And right behind it was a woman who looked like she stepped right out of Lord of the Rings. Riley took the initiative with asking the obvious questions, so she'd just stay still and observe.

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After escaping through the portal, Gio turned around and made a headcount of who made it through before the portal snapped shut. Surprisingly enough it remained open long enough that most of the group were able to make it through, the only ones who hadn't been able to make it through were James and Peter. He very much didn't appreciate their already small group dwindling further, but given the near checkmate situation they had found themselves in just a few moments ago, he resolved himself to mourn the lost and find some way to carry on as they always had before.

"Is everyone alright?" He asked once the portal closed. The Watch looked around the environment. It certainly was a step up from the chaos they had left behind. Although the skies spoke of bad omens, the terrain was nice, serene even. It reminded him a bit of the time he spent in Rome. And they were left on a road that guided them in two directions, each towards a tree. He wasn't sure where he was, but this was nothing like any place he had ever been.

Apart from that, there was a pull. A distant one. Perhaps that was Evelina? It was her or Nancy. But Nancy's had been close by, and he had no idea how she would end up in this peculiar location just as soon as they did. Whoever it was, it would do them good to track her down as quickly as possible. But after everyone had their condition confirmed as being in the green.

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Even for his 4th Wall Breaking of telling himself to wake up, the scenery around Robert persisted, much to his annoyance. This was great, just great, now he couldn't wake up from what was fast becoming an all too real nightmare. While he didn't hurt or anything, he couldn't shake off the awful feeling that this was real indeed. Now he had no way of proving it, except getting himself killed in this nightmare or whatever people did to force themselves awake. Robert did have a gun, but even in his dreams he had never been comfortable about…you know, doing it.

Though two events in quick succession made this possible to be a dream; First was Mr. Gonzalez's incredible feat of strength, as he sprung onto his feet from being crushed under the pile of rubble. Then again, if anyone had looked like they could do that, it was Caesar. Robert looked at him for a moment, puzzled at his feat of strength but glad to see a somewhat familiar face. Perhaps. It was better than the shadow monster. "Mr…Gonzalez, was it?...God damnit, this is real, isn't it?"

The second event didn't help in the fusterclut that they were all stuck in. All four of them, five with the arrival of the lady all dressed up like she was attending one of those "CON's" kids were hyped about those days…with a wolf, the size of a small horse. Yeah, this was happening. Robert looked at her with wide eyes, no witty or sarcastic comments to throw at her as the normal-looking lady asked her some well-placed questions. Would she answer, or just call Caesar a smelling fist-fighter, before killing them? Nothing about her told Robert overtly that she was a danger to them. Then again, the horse-sized wolf was scary enough in itself. Robert scratched his head slowly, still holding his gun at his side. "What the blond girl asked, and another one; How the Hell did we get here? Did Gandalf put us here or something? 'Cause I'm starting to get real tired of all this shit happening…ma'am."

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DttS In-Between: Soon, the world around them dissolved into nothingness and then into somethingness. Or, at least something resembling a world, but it was unlike that of which she was just in and now Josephine felt very alone. She had traveled and came to know Haakon until he was gone. Then she managed to find someone in Reddish who disappeared as well. Now she was with this woman who, slowly, was irritating her with her overall demeanor. She wanted to shake the woman, but she thought better of it. They would have to work together now if they had any hope of making through whatever the hell this was.

Jo stood up now and took in her surroundings. She saw the figure as well and before she could rationalize it, Mosi began screaming and freaking out. Again, Jo fought off the urge to give the woman a hard slap across the cheeks. ”Darling, do be quiet for a couple of minutes, please? I imagine screaming at the thing, real or not, would not make the situation better.” Jo took an uneasy step towards it, but it did not move. Whatever it was, it was as if Death himself was standing before her.

But to that end, she began to hear other voices. She saw that they were not along anymore. It appeared some of the others she knew had joined them, along with some she did not recognize.

Dtts In-Between: Faye felt overwhelmed at the sheer amount of work being done, but it soon unraveled around her. She moved to move. It was better to try than to accept defeat, but even then, she knew it was only a matter of time (ironic really) that it all soon dissolved. They were left in a place she did not recognize. It seemed whatever spell that had hooked them was completed and they were now here. Wherever here was.

”I do believe we are now where that spell meant for us to go. I do not recognize this place, but we are not in Arthribis anymore. Of that I am sure.” Faye spun around and caught two women she did not recognize. Or rather, one she had a faint recalling of seeing before, but she was sure she did not know her. The women seemed to gaze at something and Faye turned to see a skeletal figure, scythe in hand. It appeared to be Death, but it did not move, despite having ample targets nearby for him.

She recalled what she could about something like it and came to a conclusion. ”That appears to be a statue of some sort. Or whatever a statue could be wherever we are. It has not moved so I believe its sole purpose is to stand there and look scary. A job well done, as far as I know. Now, do you have some knowledge as to where we are now, Emendator?” she asked of Gene or whatever her true name was. Hopefully, the woman had answers.

The In-Between: Shores of the River -> Evelina's Cave: Faith caught her breath again and stood up, clutching the bag she had on her. ”I think you’d rather like what I had to sell. It’s apparently full of weapons against the various Kin of the time period and, by the looks of things, the realm I was just in. Unsure if it will be useful here, but a girl does like to have her accessories.” She left it at that, both glad to see Eve and a bit pissed off that the woman had ran off to be here of all places.

She followed though. She imagined Eve knew where she was going. They came to a cave that looked like Eve had inhabited it for a bit now. A fire was set up and Faith stepped over to it to dry off from her recent swim. ”Yeah well, you should know by now that it will take a lot more than that to kill me a second time.” Faith had a lot of questions. Most of which was: was she still meant to save her? Or the other way around?

”Do pardon me saying so but your vacation home is a piece of crap. I don’t suppose you wish to share why you up and abandoned all of us back home without a word. And yes, I said home, because that is what it was. I never felt like I truly belonged until I became a Paradox and now, here I am, tasked with saving you when it doesn’t look like you even want to be saved. So, what is this place and why am I here now?”

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PE Fade Between:

She didn't know what ultimately had become of James - and perhaps, that was for the best. She couldn't do anything about it, especially since she hardly understood what was going on beyond the collapse of perhaps every timeline in existence. Andromeda didn't even know what had become of her own timeline - had they managed to fix time? Or had the others die shortly after she had perished? Biting her lip slightly, Andromeda surveyed her surroundings. There wasn't really anything here to indicate where they had ended up. They were just on a worn out road, with a tree at both ends. "Well the road is good... We're at least somewhere where civilization once was," Andromeda murmured, mostly talking to herself.

Andromeda jumped slightly at the sudden crack of electricity, wondering for a moment if she had caused that only to realize it had been from the portal closing. Nothing felt innately dangerous here at least. "I'm fine," she said, answering Giouse's question. "Do you know where and when we are?" she then asked, figuring it was a natural follow up. Whatever had been happening back in Egypt seemed to have stopped at least - she didn't notice anyone else starting to fade away, but could something like that easily start up again here soon? They needed to make some sort of plan of action and quickly.

DTTS Fade Between:

Drawing on her experience with the strange and unusual, Nancy had tried to figure out which way to go, but she had no idea at all. The pull was changing rapidly, her inner compass spinning on its axis uncontrollably. There had been a world in front of her eyes and in a moment, as if the scene was shifting in a dream, she was somewhere else entirely - or perhaps she had been there all along and just now began to notice?

Glancing all around, she tried to make out any sort of details that she could. The scenery surrounding them reminded her a bit of a Crypt Wedding - all black and grey, covered in a thick and heavy fog. "Oh that's bloody wicked," Nancy exclaimed, her eyes wide as she spotted what looked like the Grim Reaper - a skeleton, standing without any aid to keep the bones together, dressed in a robe and holding a scythe. The torches burning at least confirmed that this place was not abandoned - someone had to have come and set those fires.

Not that she didn't love abandoned places, mind you - they were hauntingly beautiful and she adored to explore them at her leisure.

"Oh, call me Nancy love - and I'm not sure. Maybe New Jersey. I don't think I've been here before - which is quite rare. I've been almost everywhere..." Her eyes then flickered over to Mosi and Josephine. She recognized the pair of them and of the two, she preferred the company of the blonde immensely. "Oi, Josephine, are you alright?" Nancy called out.

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PE-Fade Between:

As soon as she stepped out of the other end of the portal Sophia looked around, they were on some kind of road at least they had some form of civilization which was good. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her robes, though it looked completely old and barren to her as well. "Well we aren't in Kansas anymore by the looks of it." Sophia said jokingly as she tried to see down the road, she wasn't sure how long it even went to. Sophia looked over towards Gio for a moment as well as Gilbert maybe one of them knew but she really did doubt it as well to, since they didn't really know how to fix what was going on in Cairo either.

Then the portal closed right behind them, feeling her hair sticking up slightly as she tried to fix it a little bit, while looking around, maybe if she used her ability she could be able to hear something. "I could maybe try and see if I can pick up any voices scent from anyone else?" Sophia asked, maybe if she could pick up a sound or scent, she'd be able to find someone that would be willing to help them as well and maybe find Nancy as well.

DTTS-Fade Between:

Lauren watched as everything continued to fade and shift all around them, having lost her friend as well as the Lord Major she wasn't sure who else would end up fading like they did. Lauren was really starting to miss her friend Nora, she looked around as she saw that the others were still there which she was relieved as well sighing slightly to herself. Lauren recognized seeing Jo as well as Priscilla as well, when she turned around Lauren stumbled back slightly seeing the skeleton as well. "This looks more like hell to me.." Lauren said mostly to herself as she looked over at both Jo and Priscilla. "Have you two seen Vera, is she okay?" Lauren asked maube they had gotten separated as well.

Faye managed to beat her and asked Gene where they were, which she was wondering now as well but her heart dropped slightly when she said she didn't know where they are. "Well that's lovely.." Lauren said as she rubbed her neck slightly looking at the skeleton again and shuddered slightly, she wasn't sure if that was some kind of warning or if it was some kind of direction marker which was a really creepy way to point someone in the right direction for. "Maybe we should not follow the creepy skeleton thing is going either." Lauren said softly.


DTB-Fade Between:

Riley looked at the strange woman with her massive wolf next to her, she wasn't sure if she wanted to piss off the woman off either when she could simply send the massive wolf towards them. Riley waited for a response while looking over at where Cecily was and bit her bottom lip still. She really wished that she was with her right now as well, Riley still couldn't help but get the feeling that maybe Chris was somewhere lurking around here as well. Riley really did not want to deal with him again, she was already stressed out as it is right now as well.

"Also, i'd rather like to get away from here as soon as possible, seeing a former classmate who killed a bunch of my classmates and me a couple of months ago is alive and well it looks like and i'd rather get as far away from here as possible to." Riley said, seeing him fade like Cecily and Pyria did Riley wasn't sure if he would end up coming back either to try and kill her again, she was really getting stressed and freaked out as well to. Riley looked back at the strange woman once more, wondering who she was still as well.

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The door, masonry, and other bits of building material were off of Caesar without him feeling much the worse for wear. Others had appeared around him, persons with whom he was familiar in varying levels of acquaintanceship. He had struggled to remember names, and slowly they were coming to him.

"Riley Ridgeway," he growled softly. It was the first and easiest to remember. She was famous, he thought he remembered. And lived near to him.

"Mali..." He had heard the name once or twice, and had also seen her around the building he had lived in back in Justice, California. But he couldn't place a last name on her.

"...Robert Adler." The only reason he remembered this one at all was that he very recently had an interesting meeting with someone that he sat in on. Introductions were made.

Caesar hefted his shotgun, a lovely Mossberg tactical piece, and looked at the world around them. "It would be a good time to wake up," he agreed, speaking to Robert. "More likely that we're dead, is the thing. Hmm..." He seemed to weigh that as an option. "Purgatorio?" he questioned quietly to himself. Before he figured out the nature of anything around him or considered what else he would want to say to these people, if anything, he noted the approach of a new person. Not the fading in that he and the others had done, but a physical, environment interacting walk up. With the biggest damn wolf he had ever seen. They stopped some twenty feet out. It was a good distance to see someone's eyes and read the expression on their face so you could determine of you needed to shoot them, yet do so with some range. However, it was also an excellent closing distance for a canine that size if it wanted to eat you.

If things became ugly, he was going to have to shoot the wolf first. If it came at him, anyway. Use it for cover if the lady unslung that bow of hers. Target her if the wolf went for someone else. It would suck for them, but this was the most effective way to take care of the situation if it came to violence. Hit the faster threat first. The tactics of the situation that leapt unbidden to his head as matter of a survival skill took a bit of an abbreviation as the woman spoke. To him directly.

Others had things to say. Maybe it was important to them that they said what they did. Give a sense of control in a situation that none of them had any control over. Caesar himself wasn't happy with the absence of familiarity or footing in the least, either. But nothing he said was going to make it better automatically. Instead, he waited until the others had said their peace, and responded to the strange lady, "Soy un pugilista₁." He said this, though he was pretty sure that she meant something else, not quite as obvious, by her statement. The fact that she was speaking on behalf of her wolf was not lost on him.

Seeing as Riley had taken the initiative with asking who she was, Caesar refrained from repeating the question. Instead, he opted for a slightly different approach. He heard her speaking English. Seems everybody did. "I am called Caesar. Caesar Gonzalez." His words were quiet; soft even, with their usual low, growling quality. If he others wanted to introduce themselves, great. The people he cared about personally were nowhere to be seen. They were his priority far more than the people he was here with at the moment.

Over by the scary skeleton, Mosi is trying to keep an eye out for things that may cause problems but her perception and alertness isn't really up to snuff right now. In fact if a shark jumped out in front of her roaring a swarm of bees she probably wouldn't notice it right now. Maybe the bullet did knock her a bit before it vanished.

Now, Nancy is having better luck with things. Seeing that wicked skeleton and looking around she is pretty sure she knows where they are but it ain't anywhere she has been before. Only a place she has read about in the past. Or more so that others have written about. A place where once, long ago, people spoke of about that they went after death. Not one of the many that Nancy herself had lived through but one another Emendator had lived through, more than one, for hundreds of years. She is pretty sure where they stand would have been known to Amaratha (Lady Lucas) as Erebus, a region of the Greek underworld where the dead pass immediately after dying. At least that was what they called it. Also, Nancy is feeling other Emendators. More than two, in multiple directions. She cannot tell who she is feeling in which direction but she is feeling them nonetheless.

The scenery seems to be holding as it was and Faye is correct, it does not seem that this skeleton is meaning them any harm. Perhaps it is a warning, perhaps it is just there to appear scary, or maybe it is just a welcome. Hell of a welcome. Either way it doesn't seem like it is going to suddenly spring to life and attack them. Thankfully. Though maybe Lauren was right, maybe it was pointing in a direction but if it was, did you really want to follow where the skeleton was pointing? I mean if you weren't a Crypt. Of course a Crypt would follow it. Be like the best invitation ever. For now though, nothing was changing and it seemed like things were calm.


Now, over to some others. It seems that everyone that comes through Gios portal is going to come through the other side without injury. At least nothing physical. Measuring mental trauma is a whole different thing and well going from Egypt to wherever the hell this is might throw some people off. Granted, since it just appears to be a road that has been traveled on, it seems like it could be anywhere. Maybe they are in Nebraska? Who knows.

Sophia doesn't have a half bad idea. Maybe trying to sense or hear or even smell something might give a clue to where they are. Then again, maybe not. Who knows. Worth a shot maybe though? At least it is quiet enough to where if she tried to listen she shouldn't be overwhelmed with things getting too loud around her, as long as the rest of the people with her don't start screaming suddenly. That wouldn't be fun, for anyone. Those hearing it or those screaming.

Andromeda is staying alert and it seems that things are calm. There is a slight wind but the road is empty besides them. Down at either end of the horizon is a tree. Both trees seem to have leaves moving slightly with the wind but nothing more. She can't see through the leaves but there doesn't appear to be anything hiding in them, at least it doesn't seem that way. One cannot be sure. The only sign of life she is seeing, other than those standing around her, is a flock of black birds far off in the distance. They are too far for her to be able to tell what type of birds they are. They might not even be black, it may be they are too far too for her to actually know what color they are.

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Evelina starred at the fire, watching the flames crackle and the embers burn as thin tendrils of smoke rose. "I did leave word. I said do not follow." Her words were distant as she spoke them, still not looking away from the fire. She had left specific instructions. Take a week off, reflect, do not follow her. Pulling a dagger from it's sheath on her thigh, she poked the tip into the fire. Turning it slowly. Evelina did not seem like the same woman who had trained Faith, nor even the same one who seemed darker before the last day that Faith had actually seen and spoken to her. "That begs the question, what are you doing here? But perhaps that question has answered itself in your own lines. To save me," Evelina said as she rotated the blade slowly. It turning red in the flame and darkening before she stood up. She had nearly chuckled when she said Faith was there to save her, but it was not a happy chuckle or even a sarcastic one. More of one of defeat.

Walking over to the walls her hand reached out and ran along the lines carved into the walls. Slowly tracing them as she walked, stopping and tilting her head to the side as she found one that only had four scores. Driving the dagger into the wall she raked it diagonally through the marks. "How long has it been for you? Since you last saw my face? I wonder. Why come now? After all this time or perhaps time is not the same there as it is here. Or maybe it is. Maybe that is why you are here now, because it has been so very long. Look," she said as she looked back towards Faith, motioning with the tip of her blade towards the marks furthest away from her. "At first they marked the days." Turning she pointed to another section of wall. "Then weeks." She pointed to yet another section. "Months." Looking back, Evelina pointed to where she had just carved. "Years...." Evelina turned and looked back at Faith. "Though until today I had stopped marking so very long ago. I do not know even how long it has been anymore. Half a millennia? Maybe more. A lifetime, even in my eyes."

Reaching down, she took a strip of the leather that hung from her waist. Pulling it up and wrapping it around the blade of the dagger. Cleaning away the smut that darkened its metal until it shone again. Releasing the leather it fell back against her thigh as she looked towards the ceiling of the cave and let out a long breath. After a moment her eyes went back to Faith. Waving the dagger around as if to point out the world around them. "This place? Where is it? Perhaps the better question is what is it? Yes, what is this place. Well it is here. Where we, no, they go. When no choice is given, or when you decide to leave. Perhaps you did die a second time. Perhaps I died. Perhaps that is why we are here. Your guess is as good as mine. Hell, Heaven, Hades, Limbo. An In-between, between life and death?" Breathing out she shrugged and sheathed her dagger back.

Sitting back down she bent her knees and draped her arms over them as she sat there hunched over. No long the straight rod up her backside that refused to have any posture but perfectly straight. "I felt a strange tug, like there was another. Not like me, more like you, something different, in trouble. So young, you all were. Not ready. Let them stay, reflect, train, rest, be protected. That was what I thought. I left word, do not follow. I stepped through a portal, it was to take me to a set place, one I had been to before. One that was steady for us. Yet, when I came through, there I was." Her hand lifted and pointed back out of the cave, towards the river where Faith had come through. "Here I was. Here I am. Here I have been."

Lowering her hand she looked at her fingers. "Is it abandonment when a mother leaves her child with their uncles and aunt? To be protected while she searches for another of their family? No, it is prudence. To think of you all here, all these... centuries." Evelina swallowed slightly before shaking her head. "Maybe you are simply here to keep my company with your sparkling personality." There was a slight chuckle again, though slightly humorous instead of defeated. "I have missed you though." Her voice was laced with a lost kindness with those last words as she looked towards Faith.

Evelina seemed to be in thought, until she suddenly stood up as if she had heard a twig snap in the woods. Nearly startled by whatever it was that got her attention but there was no sound. Her head whipped to one side and then the other, as if she was looking in different directions but could not look quickly enough. "Did others come with you?" she asked as her head kept turning one way and then another. Stepping slowly over to the mouth of the cave. Placing her hand against the rock and looking out over the terrain.

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The woman kept looking at people in front of her, her eyes going from one to the next to the next. Four of them. Looking at her wolf she seemed to nod towards him and he laid down, yawning deeply and resting his head on the ground. Even laying there, his back was still nearly as high as the woman's waist. Tilting her head to the side as the one woman asked where they were and who she was. "Here." That was a simple enough answer. Not really answering the question but stating the obvious. They were here, wherever the hell here was. "Kyra, Ash," she eventually added, pointing to herself and then the wolf at her feet.

Kyra's head tilted to the other side as she spotted Mali standing there. She was a large woman and not in the way where one had had too many rounds at the bar. While the man smelt of a pugilist, this woman looked like one. Built about like one she had seen before, but the coloring was very different. She said nothing, Kyra could respect that. Words were lost much of the time, especially when others were already talking. Sometimes silence was best. Most of the time Kyra had found words didn't matter as much as actions, then again, Kyra wasn't exactly the action packed woman in life she had once been, unless one counted walking as an action; which it was but not like before. Mali wouldn't be picking up any sort of hostility from Kyra or Ash, they both seemed rather indifferent to the group being there. Ash was yawning and Kyra just seemed to be there.

Then another spoke, asking more questions. How was she to know how they got here? She just shrugged. She knew how she got here, or at least she thought she knew how she got here. Once she got here though she really didn't question the how or even the why. She was there, so she went with it after a while. "Don't know a Gandalf."

The first woman spoke again and Kyra looked at her and then at the ground. Slowly stepping around them, keeping her distance. She was looking at the ground, not them. Her head tilting left and then right before she stepped back over to Ash and stopped. Looking back at them. "No one else has been here." It was a flat statement. There were no other tracks she could see in the ground, she heard nothing else around them. Saw nothing else. Smelled nothing else. As far as she knew it was only them.

Then the man that smelled like a pugilist finally spoke up. He seemed to introduce the others. "Strange names." They were to her. Not like names she head heard before but then again, she hadn't heard anything but the sound of her own voice for some time and the names she did know may be strange to them. "Dress strange as well." To her, she didn't know what to make of what they wore. Odd materials from the looks of it. Strange cuts. Maybe they were gypsy. They did dress oddly, she knew one once. Her clothing could have been considered odd. The man said words she didn't know. A different language perhaps? Not one she had heard before. They seemed slightly familiar and her brow rose. "Purgatorio? You mean Purgatory? Yes, maybe. Many names. Otherworld."

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As he stepped through the portal, Bart gave a nervous look, worried for anybody that might not make it. James was disappearing when he left, so he could only assume he hadn't made it. An upsetting fact for sure, but he honestly didn't know what he could do about that. Perhaps if they hadn't gone to Cairo to search for their enemy, they wouldn't be victims of the collapse of things in Cairo, but there was no way for him to know that for sure. Turning back to the Watch, he quietly said, "Physically yes, I think so." He gave a look over himself, as if to check to confirm that a part of himself hadn't somehow gone missing.

If there was one thing to be thankful for, this place was much calmer than the disintegrating Cairo. That was probably one of the reasons he was able to hold himself together at this very moment. The other being him holding onto the hope that Faith had made it through alive, wherever she might be. He didn't think he could take the loss of the closest friend he had, on top of everything else happening to them all. He still had no earthly idea where they were now though, looking between the two trees. This place was odd, wherever it was, and he didn't suppose much would be accomplished by sticking around.

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Well... there was a skeleton with a scythe! This fact by itself seemed ot be taking most of her attention, but even that one aside she wasn't spotting anything else for the moment. No cosmic horrors from on high or bees...? There wasn't anything... at least she hoped there wasn't anything about, she had two near death experiences in an the span of couple of hours, thank you, but not thank you. She didn't want a forth one. She turned to the other woman with a shrug of her shoulders." Well... sorry, but I nearly died twice in a few brief hours. I didn't quite expect to slip the hands of the reaper, only to see him before me... it startled me." She explained herself before her eyes suddenly flashed and her head snapped when she heard voices and other people appeared apparently!

This nearly caused her to jump because well she didn't spot them anywhere until they were this close to be visible and within sound hearing range. The bloody damned hells. Mosi wanted to curse, but held her tongue as she took deep breaths, trying to calm down and focus her mind. She looked at the women who appeared familiar faces at least. She then focused on the location and the skeleton, trying to recall any scraps of occult knowledge that might be useful that could point at their location or why they appeared here, but to no avail. She was drawing a blank right about now. Relaxing her grip on her knife she rubbed her temples. Maybe she should rest a little before she tries to do anything else. Getting almost shot to death may have affected her somewhat.

"Well... she disappeared in thin air..." She replied to Lauren as the other woman asked about Vera." Honestly I expected to meet her on this side, but she wasn't around when we appeared just a little bit earlier." Mosi explained and ran a hand through her hair.

"Alright, anyone having an idea where we actually are? Last I recall before we appeared here, I saw what suspect to be the lost city of Dionysus appearing in the sands along with a whole lot of shadows. Then we all started vanishing." Mosi asked the newly arrived." Before it all started there was this haze all about though, you all experienced that as well?"

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DTB Fade Between

Robert had to turn and give the blonde lady an annoyed look as she told them and the wolf lady that some murder classmate of hers was still out there, and that she wanted to get as far away as possible from them. Though Robert did not, it wasn't the woman herself that annoyed him. It was the mention of a murderer on the loose out there, as if a shadow monster and them fading out of existence wasn't already enough. It had already been a really, really shitty day, so Robert would prefer to just shoot the murderer and get it over with than having to deal with him.

That was a concern for later however, as the conversations between the various people of the group lit up again. First of was Caesar, who to Robert's little sense of pride remembered his name after having had the spat between himself and Adelaide…Where the Hell was she though? Hadn't she faded away as well? Clearly they weren't going to get any answers, it seemed, as Caesar seconded Robert's fear that they were dead. "Purgatory? Great…Where's my life-insurance when I need it?"

Robert turned back to the wolf-lady straight out of a Fantasy Convention as she answered her question. Sort of. The presence of a huge wolf, possibly ready to devour them on the spot, kept Robert from throwing a sharp comment towards her and "strange" clothes as she herself put it, only muttering to himself something akin to "…Fine, never liked hairy hobbits after all." Then when she commented on Caesar's mention of Purgatory, something clicked in Robert's mind. Something, first from back in Adelaide's book store, then out in the street of Grimm; First was the similarities between the thought that this was Purgatory or something, and Adelaide's stolen book about the Underworld. Second was the dice Mali had thrown at the shadow monster, and a Celestial Dice…if there was a connection, it couldn't possibly be true, could it?

Robert scratched his head with his free hand, taking in everything that was going on both around him and in his mind. "If we're going to talk, could we in the least do it somewhere other than here? This place is giving me the creeps."

DttS Fade Between

Mahendra didn't take to heart many of words and phrases Gene spoke of, his attention turned at the moment to the attempt of getting them forward. They had to move forward, move back, move somewhere to get out of this mess of cosmic propotions! Or else they would fade into oblivion or something far worse, and Nora's noble actions all in vain. Armed with Nora's notebook and all his experience from both the academic and practical world, Mahendra, tried to find the way forward. Forward, into nothing, as he couldn't make any sense of the shifting world around them. Fading. Disappearing. With the last resemblence of this world of the underground changing around him, Mahendra had to concur to Gene. "I do not know…Dear gods, show us mercy."

Richard wasn't getting any bright ideas in his head either, looking around for any signs of the monster that he was supposed to piss his pants for, according to Gene. Now the ever shifting walls and ether around them was enough to make any sane man scared shitless, if it hadn't all been too much for Richard's brain to comprehend fully. Someone might say that his mind failed to grasp the true horror of them fading away, instead telling him that "this wasn't right". Scary, yes, but not horrific. Richard looked over at Lauren as she agreed with him, puffing out a cloud of smoke from his nose, before looking over at Gene with his final words before the whole world changed. "If we ever meet that Destruere or whatever you call them, don't stop me from giving them a solid piece of my mind."

Then all was different. Silent. Dark, grey, foggy, everything and nothing. Mahendra couldn't place space or time as his eyes desperately tried to find a solid point to focus on. What to focus on when all was a black sky? Then once he finally found something to lay his eyes on, he wish he hadn't. A skeleton stood armed with a schythe, staring down at him from a black rock. For a moment Mahendra feared the worst, having been taught the concept of the Grimm Reaper from his English schoolmates in Oxford. Was this his time? Their time? His fears subsided once he saw the two familiar faces of companions not seen for a few hours, though at this point it felt like years. "Mosi, Miss Clark! You're alive! Oh, it is good to see you."

This felt like a slow walk through a dingy New York alley on a cold autumn's night, and Richard didn't feel like getting shanked that day. His whole body was tense as the darkness enveloped them, before the sound of crackling flames could be heard in the distance. Light, emanating from torches in iron cages, like in a bad production of Hamlet. The skeleton wasn't a pretty sight either, though Richard took comfort in hearing Faye state it was only a statue. "Well it certainly ain't a pretty skeleton. One hell of a way to great us, wicked indeed." Richard replied to Faye and Gene's words, finally turning to look back at his unlikely companions. Who now were added by two, sounding like fellow Americans to him. "Ah…how do you do, ladies? Richard Barker, Private Detective, and Miss Masterson, partner." Richard asked Mosi and Josephine, lifting his hand with the cigarette up to his hat and tipping it for them. Great, more women. That always was a good sign for trouble.

Mahendra had to agree with Lauren in his judgement of their location. Hell sounded like a possible answer, though he certainly wished she wasn't right. "For once I hope you are mistaken, my dear Lauren. But yes, where is Lady Munn? And Miss Kingston? Have you seen her? The Lord Major and his Corporal?" Mahendra asked Mosi and Josephine, who clearly had arrived in this location before them. Wherever this place was. Mahendra began to turn around, his eyes going over the visible areas as he pocketed Nora's notebook. If he could just figure out where they were, perhaps they had a chance of finding some answers? Again Mahendra turned to his knowledge of the academic world and all the knowledge he possessed, looking around for any signs as to where they could be. Rocks, soil and dirt, anything. And nothing came to him, just dirt and more dirt. "I am afraid I am coming short of an answer, Mosi. But yes a haze came upon us all, strange it was."

Richard on his side turned for a moment to look at Gene, Nancy or whatever she wanted to be called. He wasn't too troubled by the fact she had gone by a different name back in the tunnels, people lied like that all the time. "No, New Jersey sounds just about right to me. Less skeletons and deafening silence, but not far off." Richard commented, beginning his own little investigation into the area. Not as much where they were, but more where they should be going. Sticking around didn't seem like a good idea to him, it never did, and in his experience getting a move on was for the best. Richard started to walk around the group and their general area, puffing his cigarette as he looked around for anything that stuck out to him and his detective nose. The problem was that the fog obstructed too much of the distance, making it too hard to see where they should head. Richard didn't say anthing of it as he returned to the group, hearing the woman asking about the haze and the Indian fella answering. "Not just a haze, a smell too. Smoke. This stinks too, like a whorehouse at low tide."

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The solid form of The Hat edged into existence on the other side of Giosue's portal, his face altering from the image of nonchalance and reassurance he had given James, to the a more immediate look of assessing their situation. Coming through one of Gio's portals (one of the most invaluable tools they possessed as a group) was always an experience of transition, though the Emendators had a further layer of adjustment than most people as their sense of one another had to reorient, often drastically, with each jump. Gil could think of one other Paradox-At-Large with a similar ability who might relate, though in a more limited fashion. Distant, but wherever and whenever they were, there were others of their kind that made it. It was hopeful.

What was not hopeful was the fairly bleak surroundings into which they had stepped. He looked to Gio, who had asked after those present and responded with a distant, "I am intact, Giosue," followed by a sigh and, "We lost Mr. Keystone and Mr. Grady." He had a hard set to his jaw, stating what he did in the factual manner of a soldier who had seen too much death in his latest tour, and while mostly numb to the cost of human life a sliver of regret and sorrow remained. "Or perhaps we are the ones who are lost." He shook his head. An older version of Gilbert was beginning to emerge; one who had known him for long enough might be able to tell. The signs were subtle, at first.

In its own way, their new surroundings troubled Gilbert more than a disintegrating Cairo. "This place looks like a metaphor," he said. "I believe something is ...off, though I cannot place why." It had been Gilbert's philosophy that, in the midst of unknown elements, a person of decisive action must assess what they can from surroundings and act according to wisdoms both ancient and conventional, as applicable.

"When he has penetrated into hostile territory, but to no great distance, it is facile ground. On facile ground, halt not." he said aloud, quoting a man he called Master in a previous life. "The closest thing that resembles a resource are the two trees to either distance. A branch can make a club, quarterstaff, spear, or a stake, if we are desperate and unarmed. It might possess other resources. Or, for all we know both are same tree and are on a very small piece of reality. I am going to find out." He began walking toward the tree ahead, taking stock of the world around him with caution and opening himself up to the general feel of the pull one Emendator has for their fellows.

Mali didn't know what to think about the situation, let alone how to feel about anything that had happened. If there was one thing that was comforting, it was that everyone seemed to be on the same page that they were in some sort of purgatory. She didn't recall dying even though everyone else had been, but who knows, maybe she just didn't remember it. Or perhaps everyone who hadn't died already just got dumped here after the end of the world. Either way, it didn't really matter why, but more that they were here in the first place.

Furthermore, Kyra and Ash as the elf(?) put it weren't hostile in the least as far as she could tell. They seemed more bored than anything. So she could let her guard down just a bit. Down below the level of "in imminent danger of being mauled by a wolf," at least. But other than the lack of any immediately obvious impending danger, there was just nothing for her to go off of. And since this was indeed a purgatory, maybe the seemingly endless expanse of nothing actually was nothing. Mali went to scratch her head when she noticed that her hand was glowing. Still. So either the dice stained her soul with glo-stick fluid, or she never actually died and this was permanent.

Again, it didn't really matter which at this point, but the establishment of even a single additional fact, even one as infuriating as unexplained bioluminescence felt like progress towards something, rather than nothing. Of course, getting what facts she did have straight would be a lot more easily done if there wasn't unnecessary quipping and references to The Lord of the Rings in her ear.

"Look around you. There is nowhere else away from 'here.' Here goes as far as you can see in every direction. Probably forever. Now if you don't have anything productive to add, shut it." Perhaps a more rude response than Robert deserved, but she was still rather on edge from the everything that had happened in the last hour.

Mali tried thinking of something to ask the woman. She seemed almost as ignorant as they were, but she could still know something important they didn't. The first thing to ask that came to her was if there was anybody else, but she thought about that sentence. No one else has been here. Did she just mean where they stood right now? No, perhaps she meant this entire other world. Either way the answer was probably no. If there was some sort of society set up that she was apart of, her reaction probably wouldn't be that of complete apathy. Perhaps more questioning would lead her nowhere. Maybe she could better understand what was going on by forming a bridge of sorts with Kyra.

"Mali," Mali pointed to herself to introduce herself in the same fashion that Kyra had. "We're from a different world from you. Our names and clothes are normal there." An assumption, but a safe one. Really, it was a miracle they even could understand each other perfectly. Upon finishing her explanation, a concern cropped up in her head, one that felt pertinent enough to bother asking.

"Is there any food here? Or water?" Even if they were in purgatory, Mali didn't want to make the assumption she could function without biological needs and end up a shriveled husk in the middle of this desert, forever dehydrated and starved.

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"I can't believe I can say where this is. I've never seen any place quite like this before." The past 24 hours (relative to his perspective of course) had been full of firsts, and Giosue didn't like it one bit. The familiar let you know what to expected, it was stable ground. Over the past couple weeks it was like the dirt beneath his feet had eroded into sand and then the sand gave way to a vast ocean. Only vague landmarks on the horizon kept him from sinking entirely. In the current situtation he could only do his best to keep everyone together and hope Nancy was alright. That said, nobody who had made it through the portal was horrifically injured, so that would serve as his silver lining.

"That's a great idea, Ms. Harris. Please proceed." Gilbert summed up the situation most aptly. They were in a metaphor right now, but a metaphor for what exactly? Well they had no idea until they could investigate more thoroughly. However, the oldest among them had taken it upon himself to just march off in whatever direction he saw fit. Gio knew the kind of mood he was getting into and wouldn't be able to be talked out of it quickly enough for him to return to the rest of the group while Sofia was preoccupied. Well if any one of them were capable to handling themselves alone, it would be him, but they still needed to move as a unit.

"Let's try to not split the group more than necessary. As soon as Ms. Harris is capable, let us follow Gilbert."

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PE-Fade Between:

Sophia looked over at the trees that were out in the distance they could be used to make some kind of weapons, or even be used to form some kind of makeshift shelter as well. She listened to the others as they all spoke, none of them really did answer her question so she decided to try and see if they could find some kind of answers. She took a few steps away from the others and closed her eyes as she concentrated on using her Sense Acuity ability trying to see if she could hear some kind of voices, or even smell something. While she did that she tried to see if there was some kind of trail for them to follow other than the roads.

The roads themselves seemed to go on for miles as well, and couldn't see anything she just wished that the sense acuity would have worked with sight as well. She remained alert though as Gilbert did say that they were most likely in Deustre territory as well, so far since coming here there wasn't any real sign of danger yet either which was either a good or bad thing as well. "I'll see if I can pick up a trail or something." Sophia said looking over at the others while they did their own thing.

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DTTS-Fade Between:

Lauren looked over towards Mosi for a moment and sighed slightly that Vera happened to fade away just like the same way the Lord Major did as well as Nora. "Well that's great." Lauren said rubbing the bridge of her nose and sighed a little bit, she hoped that Vera was here as well to maybe help them somehow if they were all still in Egypt. Lauren looked at the creepy as hell sketelton that was there and started to look at it closely and approached it. She hoped that it wouldn't come to life and kill her or anything like that, Lauren then looked over at the others. Lauren did smile a little bit seeing that Josephine was alright still, at least someone else from their little expedition was here.

"Well we should at least move out, staying here alone is probably not a good idea." Lauren said shrugging slightly she just hoped that there wasn't anything dangerous here right now, or even the creature that Nancy had mentioned earlier back in the tunnels. "Still being here is giving me the creeps as well." Lauren said mostly to herself as she rubbed her arms slightly and looked around for anything else that would be of interest or use as well for them.

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DTB-Fade Between:

Riley looked at Kyra as she introduced herself and the big as hell wolf that was there, she really didn't like dogs ever since she was little as well. Riley wasn't to sure about the woman's answer that there was no one else here, she found that a bit hard to believe as well, since Chris was right there before coming here to this place. She shook her head slightly mentioning Gandalf and Hobbits as well, she saw the Lord of the Rings movies growing up as well as reading the books to. [color=cyan["They are referencing some books where we are from."[/color] Riley said, as she stared at Ceasar for a moment introducing their names.

Riley didn't mind getting out of here and maybe to some kind of water source here as well. "See any weird massive smoke like monsters anywhere, that release some smoke like smells?" Riley asked, she hoped that she wouldn't see anymore of those creatures that Alicia had mentioned as well while they were here to. Riley started to wonder if Cecily, Pyria or even Alicia died or were somewhere else in this really weird place.