entrancelogs | 001 :: >press any key to continue (arrival)

Entry tags:

001 :: >press any key to continue (arrival)

Who: Charlie Bradbury and anyone!
Where: Outside the mansion/entry hall.
When: January 1st, celebrating the new year newbie style! (Being confused)
Rating: Prob PG-13
Summary: Charlie's not in Oz anymore, Toto.
The Story:

One moment she's saying good bye, starting on her journey down the yellow brick road, and the next she's waking up beside a horse stable, propped against the side.

The high pitched whinny is what wakes her. Charlie comes to with a start, gasping and immediately regretting it as her nose is assaulted with pure horse. It's definitely not an odor she was expecting, which is why she chokes for a moment and starts coughing violently.

Once her initial shock dies down (and she's able to breathe again), Charlie pushes herself to stand, confusion starting to settle as she glances around. Anyone can see that this place? Definitely not Oz.

With more questions brewing in her brainspace, Charlie walks around to the front of the stables, checking out the horses she's had the pleasure of smelling today.

"You know, you guys look way awesome in movies and paintings," Charlie says this companionably as she crosses her arms, just having a friendly chat with the horses. "But in real life? Super smelly. Not majestic at all."

The horse closest to her snorts, pawing the ground. She gives it a suspicious look and decides maybe this isn't the time to make friendly with the animals.

"Gonna take that as my cue to get going. Later, my equine bros." Giving them a Vulcan salute, she turns around to take in the landscape and to figure out what's next on the agenda.

It's easy to pretend to be calm when it just seems so surreal. Like being in a lucid dream. That's what this has to be, right? As she starts a path down to the mansion, she doesn't feel so confident in that theory.

Oz is real, she was going to it. Who's to say she wasn't transported into some other kind of fairy tale world? And by the looks of this place, that's what it has to be.

Maybe there's be some dancing munchkins inside that can point her in the direction of the Emerald City.

As she walks, Charlie's looking over her shoulder every few seconds, wondering where her new traveling companion is. Traveling with Dorothy, the Dorothy, is like a super rad dream come true. Now here she is, alone in a strange place with no backup to speak of. Awesome.

It's like every fantasy novel she's ever read, or at least every RPG she's spent hours of her life chasing after every side quest she could find. Normally, that would make her feel a little better except for one simple fact: every hero, when beginning their quest, usually ends up running into some super hard tutorial fight. Maybe even an unwinnable one.

Charlie's wishing for a sword right now, and when she puts a hand in her jacket pocket, desperate for anything, her fingers brush against something unfamiliar.

"Huh?" Pulling out the object, at first glance it seems like a regular smart phone. Not hers, though. By now she's reached the steps in front of the mansion, and she comes to a stop, sitting down on one of the steps and turning the phone over in her hand.

She's in a hurry, sure, but she can take a fiver to figure out what this thing is, and more importantly, what it does.

(OOC: Charlie will chill on the steps a bit before going inside, feel free to catch her anywhere!)

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_{[A veteran! Haha, that's funny. He probably qualifies as a veteran of that very same nutty.]}

Uhh... oh, no, not me, not really. _{[A bone dry understatement.]} I'm just vacationing here until someone figures out what's up. Mostly.

_{[He blinks down at her. Adam can see that she's knew and maybe not as disoriented as a Hell survivor, but it's a challenge to offer up help or advice he doesn't have, or even just keep himself from kindly warning her that the only experience he has is a few lifetimes in the Cage.

Now that he's one of the mansion residents wandering around bumping into new faces, is it like his responsibility to try and help her out like he'd been helped out? The role reversal doesn't fit right.]}

Did you just get here, or...?

Still pretty fresh off the incoming train.

[ She's not sure how to feel about that, but she's run into plenty of helpful folks around here, so that's good. ]

I've got the rundown everyone gets, I guess. Magical mansion, likes to change things up a bit every couple of weeks. Fun stuff. [ It's said with a hint of sarcasm, because it doesn't sound fun at all. ] I'm Charlie.

_{[Join the club, Charlie, Adam rarely knows how to feel about any given thing, either.

He thinks for a second. Anything to add to the welcome wagon? Nope, that about sums it up.]}

Sounds about right. _{[He's not much more impressed with Wonderland on his end.]} I'm... Adam. There are people who give good rundowns around. Better than nothing, I mean. If you're worried, you've got that.

_{[He's so rusty at comforting people, his gears are practically screaming from old age. Not a skill set you need in the pit.]}

Knowledge is power, right? [ It's a cheesy, old as time saying but always seems appropriate. ] I read the books about this place when I was super little, so I don't remember much besides the zany characters and whatnot.

[ Though she does remember a few scary bits that made her frightened, but that just seems to fit with these 'events' she's heard about.

Speaking of which... ]

So, what kind of crazy have you experienced here?

_{[Where has he heard that phrase? On G.I. Joe? It's great as a bubble gum theory and all, but in all seriousness, Adam's been carrying around the feeling for a while that knowing more hasn't made him more powerful.

That's the jaded view of a Hell damaged vessel, though, not a veteran of Wonderland.]}

Same. _{[He nods a little.]} Going to go out on a limb and assume that you're from the real world or whatever we're calling it, not Mars.

_{[Apparently that's a thing people have to check now. "Earth" isn't always the default answer. If that's not mind-boggling enough, he doesn't know what is. At the end of the day, at least it's better than Hell and all of that crazy, even if most of that crazy still follows at his heels like an invisible puppy.]}

Are you sure you really want to know?

That's a negative on the being Martian. I'm just a regular old human! I know some peeps who aren't that normal, but I don't think it's rubbed off that bad.

[ Maybe just a little.

Anyway, when she was younger, she might have wished for super powers or to be an elf but she's happy with how she is now. Even if she's a little breakable nowadays. ]

If you're asking that, maybe I don't. [ But then she is the one who just said knowledge is power, soo.... ] Okay, yeah. Hit me with what you got.

_{[Yeah, maybe just a little. But he'll take it so long as it's human and not acting on carnivorous urges to eat his liver.]}

It's not all tea parties, is all.

_{[He tries to put himself in her shoes. Before everything, maybe doing so wouldn't have been so hard, but when he tries to think of being a normal person, having normal reactions, not constantly bearing a heavy pressure in the back of his mind... It's a little like trying to squint through one of those optical illusions, only your eyes won't focus no matter what you do.

There's a reason no had signed him up as a volunteer Wonderland greeter.]}

Well, people say those change ups happen because of people's memories. Like they're coming to life. _{[There's a hint of a question in the words. Is she following along? If she is, then she might have an idea where he's going with this.]} One guy here remembers zombies.

_{[So yeah, shit gets bad.]}

[ Her eyebrows go up at the mention of memories - this place has a way of getting into someone's head like that? She might not have scary memories, per se, but she does have private ones.

She doubts anyone's really comfortable when the place starts going crazy with the scenery changes, especially when they are familiar in some way. ]

Okay, so we're in a magical land that does some screwy stuff based on memories. [ God, she should write this stuff down, but it's not like she'll have time to forget any of it. ] Sounds like loads of fun, who doesn't like zombies?

[ The fake cheerfulness of her voice should indicate that she doesn't. ]

Man, if that's where all the crazy is coming from I'd hate to see what crawls out of Dean or Sam's brains. They've seen some heavy. [ Not to mention there are angels and demons here, and Charlie's sure the junk they have locked up isn't too pretty, either. ]

_{[He hadn't meant to pop that cherry, but apparently he had. Oops. Well, with the way people act like it's common knowledge, he would have thought someone had mentioned that little tidbit if they'd given her a rundown.

Adam tries to look sympathetic, but it comes out more strained than anything. Yeah, zombies... yay.]}

That's just what I hear...

_{[He's content to point her in the right direction, to someone with a gentle touch and all hands on deck. Sam and Dean even come to mind.

That all stops when their names come out of her mouth. It's like an unpleasant douse of cold water. His brow furrows, fingers tightening around the strap of his bag.]}

Sam and Dean... Winchester?

[ At this point, she figures everyone knows the Winchesters, or at least one of them. Those boys have a way of getting around. ]

That's them, two hunting bros out to do their family business thing. [ She notices the change in his expression, and wonders if he's got beef with them. Not that it's her business, nor like it's a surprise. Seems like they make more enemies than friends anyway. ] Knew them from back home, met up when Leviathans were trying to herd up humans to be their dinner.

[ Which was super gross, Adam. Super gross. ]

_{[Hunting bros doing their family business thing. Right. If something in his face twitches subtly at the remark, it could just as easily fall under the umbrella of having an issue with the two.]}

Yeah, that's them. All about family.

_{[Uh huh, sure, let's go with that.

He's never heard of Leviathans before, but that sounds like another part of their world he'd be better off never find out about for himself. Rationally, he knows better than to lump all of Sam and Dean's people together and summarily write them off, but their friends seem like another type of health hazard that he should have nothing to do with.

Still, what are the chances he'd find yet another person who knew his brothers?]}

And you're like them?

_{[Adam sounds doubtful.]}

Nah, I'm way cooler.

[ She says this breezily, tossing some hair over her shoulder before smiling. ]

I mean, I've been looking into the hunting thing. [ Slight pause before she shrugs. ] Okay, more than looking. It started with just researching I swear, but then one thing lead to another and now I'm here.

[ In Wonderland. She figured she'd be like dead or something instead. Not that she hasn't died already or anything - she still needs to bug Dean about that a little. ]

Do you know them or are they just that notorious everywhere?

_{[Adam has to admit, she's already less of an overall asshole, so...]}

Congrats, got your crash course.

_{[He doesn't make much of a move to either accept her claim to coolness or to shoot it down; he's trying as it is not to jump to conclusions when people who know Sam and Dean come into the picture. She doesn't seem to recognize him, which makes him wonder if he's the dirty little secret again, the brother no one's supposed to know about.

If it casts a light on everything the Winchesters have swept under the rug over the years, then he's tempted to tell the truth, just let it hang out there and fuck the rest.]}

Yeah. I know them. _{[There's more unsaid than said.]} You know if they have any other siblings?

[ It seems like a strange question to ask, and she rocks back on her heels, wondering if he's curious because he wants to avoid all Winchesters or if there's another reason. ]

Sure do. Don't think they really knew him that well, one of those 'Surprise! You have a baby brother' kind of things. [ There's more to it than that, and Charlie knows all the details thanks to those books, but it doesn't really seem like the time to ramble on about that kind of thing. ] He didn't - I think it's a sensitive subject for them. I don't really poke at them about it too much, you know?

[ Those boys probably need a little family therapy with each other, she can't imagine what being a long lost sibling related to those two would be like. Not to mention last she knew, Adam was in the Cage. ]

_{[So she does know, at least a little. Is this what they've been telling people? That they'd had a brother and they just hadn't gotten to know him that well? That he'd what, died peacefully?

That everything that had happened had been his fault?]}

A sensitive subject for them. _{[He snorts, gaze hooded. You'll never guess who you're talking to, Charlie! The one Adam in the world who has an intimate understanding of this topic.]} I'll bet. Go ahead and ask them about it. You've got my permission.

_{[His eyebrows lift, a pointed gesture. The bastard in the flesh, leaking Hell from his soul every second of every day.]}

Uh....

[ This is about all she can manage for the moment while that sinks in. Please stand by while our technicians work diligently to fix the problem. ]

Okay, whoa now. I know plenty about him - you. I don't even have to ask because I kinda read it. [ There's an awkward pause before she rushes to explain. ] In the books Chuck wrote, I mean. The whole gospel stuff. Tales of the Apocalypse and such.

[ She's trying so hard to not shove her foot in her mouth but she's pretty sure she'll manage it soon enough, if she hasn't yet. ]

_{[There's a small part of him that takes some vindictive enjoyment out of seeing her connect the dots. He's long overdue to see other people with some egg on their face, it doesn't matter who. It doesn't even have to be someone who'd been involved with that situation.

But then she goes and muddles up the moment with stuff he's never heard of before. The way his brow furrow says as much. Read books about him?]}

What?

[ Oh crap. ]

Ummm.... [ WHO PUT HER IN CHARGE OF TELLING ADAM WINCHESTER THERE ARE BOOKS WITH ALL THE GORY DETAILS INVOLVING HIS DEATH AND ANGEL POSSESSION AND TERRIBLE THINGS? Well, nobody did, but she feels like some cosmic entity is out there having some lulz at her expense.

She hopes not, because this situation is not funny in the slightest. ]

Okay, so Chuck was a prophet. He started writing these novels about Sam and Dean that were way more know-y they than should be. Apparently it's how gospels were written way back in a dinosaur's age. [ Understatement, she's sure. ] They go into a lot of detail, right up to the point that you and Sam end up in the Cage.

[ With two archangels. Two pissed off archangels. ]

So...yeah. That's how I know the story.

_{[Nope, not helping. Isn't she the newbie? Isn't she supposed to be the one thrown for a loop here?

Adam frowns. It's the frown of someone who's just had their Heaven interrupted by Zachariah, in order to tell them they're some kind of vessel for the great archangel Michael.]}

A prophet.

_{[And gospels as in... revelations from God kind of gospels? No, Sam and Dean certainly hadn't seen fit to inform him about any of this. By the time Charlie gets to "Sam" and "Cage," he's not frowning in confusion, he's just frowning.]}

So you know me from a book someone wrote.

[ She nods, biting her lip as his expression grows dark. Not looking too good here, Charlie. ]

Er...yeah. Me and like a thousand other people. [ Maybe more, the books went so viral she knows they'll be forever lost to the sea of the internet. ] Nobody thinks it's stuff that actually happened, it's advertised as total fiction. No last names in the books, either.

[ In case he wondered if anyone he knew back home would pick them up and know it was him. Granted, most people didn't look that deep into fictional books. ]

Wow, I've really shoved my foot in my mouth, haven't I? [ She knows that's not entirely true because she had no idea who he was when she started rambling, but she still feels pretty awful. ] Sorry. Not the best way to hear this kind of news.

... An actual book book.

_{[The hits just keep on coming, don't they? Fiction books. Thousands of readers. All of that crap, someone else's... what? God-given prophecy?

And knowing what he'd done, knowing about the Cage... that implies knowing about the beginning of everything, too. Knowing about John Winchester. Knowing about who his dad had been before he had. Knowing how she had died and why.

Seems like he can take his pick as to what to be surprised and angry about--there's an endless buffet to choose from.]}

Is it news? _{[His voice is steady, low.]} I mean... are they old? Are the books old? When did the story start?

_{[You better believe he's clinging onto that detail. If the pinched feeling in his gut is justified and a fucking prophet of the fucking heavenly host variety had started writing down details of the Apocalypse and had known? About everything? Then that meant, in not so many words, that something could have been done and nothing had.]}

They don't like follow everyone's lives entirely. Sam's in college when the series starts proper and it kinda goes from there. [ And she has to really think about the timeline here. ] You don't really show up in the books for a while.

[ She's sure she knows plenty about each Winchester that would make them incredibly uncomfortable, but she won't point that out. It's probably hard enough to be part of that family anyway. ]

Chuck didn't even know what he was writing until Sam and Dean stopped by his house one day. He thought he was having some crazy dreams. Guy really enjoyed the sauce, if you know what I mean.

_{[That's not really an answer and the furrow between Adam's brows twitches tighter for a moment.

Sam as a college student like him. That's not a picture he can easily imagine, or one he wants to. That's not his family. Hunters are not his people. And he's a real person, a person who'd gotten sucked up in those fucked up events, not just some footnote on a piece of paper some bible thumper had dreamed about.]}

When did he write this?

_{[He ignores the rest. They'll both regret it if he starts thinking too hard about what she's telling him right in front of her.]}

Around 2006ish?

[ Sorry, Adam, but she can't remember the specific dates here. She came into late in the game, after all. ]

Don't quote me on that, but it could have been a little earlier.

[ Charlie would suggest asking Sam and Dean but she gets the feeling things aren't exactly kosher between all the brothers. ]

_{[2006... ish? That had been three years before... before what had happened had happened. Before those things had invited themselves into his house and shattered every idea he'd ever had about John Winchester. And, also, killed him.

Adam's gotten good at his poker face. He'd been good before, and then the being eaten alive thing had happened, and he'd gotten better. Now, after Lucifer's Cage and Sam and Dean refusing to tell him a single fucking thing, the volcanic levels of anger stew just behind the scenes, reined in behind a blank stare.]}

Right. _{[He exhales stiffly through his nose before nodding like this all makes sense.]} Right.

_{[He needs to stop having expectations that things can't possibly get worse, because they can. They always do. Having someone dream about events that had happened in 2009 and put them down on paper... some kind of prophet of God and the angels who could have known and not done anything...

He turns toward the front door.]}

I should go. This kind of fame is giving me stage fright.

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