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[nowthatsfunny]

Okay, I get it. [ Tess' tone is brusque, cool, almost flippant. She feels fucking weird talking into a locket, of all things, but it's been a long damn time since she's had anything like a phone, so hey, might as well try this out, right? ] This place is magic. Fairies, trolls, goblins, whatever. You have 'em. Like some kind of fucking fairy tale. [ She honestly isn't sure what to believe right now, so she's getting right to the point. ] I just have one question for you. Cordyceps. Have you heard of it? And more importantly, is it here?

[ Tess glances aside for a moment, her eyes flashing with - fear, maybe. Not that she would ever admit that. ] Because I can live with magic and shit if there's no infection to worry about.

[ Whatever 'living' might entail here, anyway. ]

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[nowthatsfunny]

Joel? Joel! [ The abrupt cut-off startles her, and she has no idea what to make of it. She has no idea what to make of any of this shit, frankly, and the one familiar face in this whole mess is - well.

Apparently not willing to speak to her.

Guess that answers the question of whether she's dead.

She looks a little startled when she hears his voice again - she's still got the stupid locket in her hand, still so surprised by his reaction that she hasn't moved. ]

If it is, the joke's on me. [ It's all a jumble in her head, being led by... somethings, away from Boston. It wasn't like following a light or some pretty music to the pearly gates. She was trussed up in a sack and carried like so many smuggled goods - or at least, she thinks that's what she remembers.

She wonders if the feeling of disorientation will ever end. ]

[shittybirthday]

[ Nothing from Joel for a minute or two. Just silence. He's just staring at Tess' image in the locket, trying to grapple with what he's looking at. She looks no different from how he remembers her. Sounds no different. There have been things about her that have begun to fade from his mind over the last year because... well, a lot has happened, and he's had no choice but to move on without her. He's had no choice but to push her to the back of his mind and keep her in the past.

But this is like the past has come back to punch him in the gut. ]

How in the goddamn hell're you alive?

[nowthatsfunny]

I don't know.

How do you know you're alive?

[ Normally, that might be a smartass retort, but here and now? It's a genuine question. She just doesn't know. Is this some kind of afterlife? Is he dead, too? ]

They tell me I'm alive. I don't know how.

[shittybirthday]

[ Nope. Joel can't handle this. He can't handle what he's seeing, can't handle hearing Tess' voice, can't process what's happening. Again, he doesn't answer her: he snaps the locket shut, abruptly ending the conversation once more.

And if he's dead - well, that's impossible, surely. The last thing he remembers is reaching Tommy's settlement with Ellie, a heavy feeling in his heart about having lied to her but also knowing at the same time that he'd done the right thing, damn it. And the next minute, he found himself being dragged through a dark, damp forest by creatures he'd never seen before, twisted tree roots that jutted up from the ground like gnarled fingers digging into his back as he was pulled along.

Those weird imp things, whatever the fuck they were, had told him not to lose the locket; though he has a mind to throw the thing as far away from him as possible, he pockets it instead and casts a wild glance all around him, at a complete loss for what to do.

Ellie, he thinks to himself. He's gotta find Ellie. Get his head on straight and find her, doesn't matter how fucked up this whole situation is.

He starts for the castle looming ahead of him in the distance, large and sprawling and ominous looking. It's the only building, if it can even be called that, that Joel has seen for what seems like miles around since he landed himself here. But after a while, legs tired and sweat beaded on his forehead and dripping down his back, he comes to a gradual stop.

He's got no goddamn idea how or why Tess seems to be-- alive, but for all he knows, she's the only person he knows in this place. And maybe, maybe, by some wild chance, she's seen Ellie.

Pushing his hand into his pocket, he reluctantly fishes the locket out again. He finds Tess' message again, replays the last thing she said to him via the video. His voice is calmer, relenting, but no less guarded, when he speaks. ]

Where are you?

[nowthatsfunny]

[ It hurts, the way he keeps cutting her off, like he can't stand to look at her. She gets it, but it hurts. If she's dead, and now back, well. She can't imagine how she'd be feeling if the situation was reversed.

But it hurts, too. He can't be even a little glad to see me? She spoke to Ellie, the girl implied it had been a while since... well. Since Boston. But she's afraid to ask, afraid to learn how long it's actually been for him.

And yet, she's still desperate to see him, and frustrated that he won't tell her where he is so she can find him. He's the only thing that makes even the tiniest bit of sense so far in this place, and he keeps hanging up on her.

When eventually she hears his voice on the locket again, she blinks in surprise, and it takes her a moment to come up with a response. Part of her wants to snap at him; I asked you first, asshole. But what good would that do? Probably just get him to hang up again, and that's the last thing she wants. ]

Some... castle. They call it Caer Scima or something. I've only been here a couple days, there was a huge fucking... feast or something, more food than I've ever seen in my life.