sit yourself down, and meet the best inn keeper in town ( O P E N )

[checkingin]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The initial arrival rooms, the main lobby, all over the place.
When: February 3rd
What: Welcome, newbies.

ARRIVAL.

you wake up when you hit the floor in a dark room, and the air is knocked out of your lungs. the carpet is threadbare, worn with use, kind of dusty. and you're not the first person to endure this crash landing. nor will you be the last.

once your vision rights itself, you can see the well-lit hallway through the doorjam straight ahead of you. not to say there’s monsters in the shadows, but something propels you towards that door and out into the bright hallway beyond.

and once outside your room, you can hear it: the steady thrum of rain outside.

MAIN LOBBY.

there's a staircase at the end of the lengthy hallway you tumble out of. grab your suitcase and follow the dull green exit signs on the ceiling until you reach the disappointingly bland stairs that lead you down to the ornate old fashion hotel lobby.

to your left is a warmly crackling fireplace, to your right is a lobby desk. straight ahead are three large sets of doors, though only one of them is open to the public. and outside the few (curtained, permanently dark) windows is the continually steady hiss of rain.

welcome to the hotel.

FRONT DESK.

though there is a bell and a plaque designating the desk to be the main desk, the customer service desk, there are currently no staff members behind it. none shall answer your calls, either.

terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

SCREENING ROOM.

on a tall pull-down screen, a silent version of nosferatu will be playing on loop. at the back of the room, between the neat rows of fold out chairs, mounted on a wobbly table is the old timey projector, and mounted on the walls are some rather old speakers that warble out "terrifying" old timey music.

along the curtained windows is another long table, with a large bowl that looked like it once would have held popcorn. but is now unfortunately empty. same for the large hot drink dispensers labeled "hot chocolate" and "coffee".

OTHER.

the ballroom and breakfast hall are currently closed, grand doors locked.

there is no main door leading to the outside, good luck trying to find one.

the door to the courtyard is locked.

ROOMS.

you've a room key with your assigned room number on it. all the new guest residences will be located on floors one & two. while there is an open elevator in the main lobby, and the buttons light up inside, the doors will not close. all in all, you'd be better off taking the stairs.

while they're the same stairs you undoubtedly came down to get to the lobby, the door to the endless hall everyone woke up in will not reappear between the main floor and the subsequent residential halls.

there are twenty rooms per floor. feel free to get to know your surroundings; or your neighbors as they trickle in around you.

Comments

main lobby

[sheriffing]

[Regina is always pissed, usually at Emma. Good thing she's used to it by now, because it allows her to approach Regina without a hint of hesitation. This isn't the time or the place to get into all the things Regina has to be angry about. Either she can listen to reason, or she can keep milling about (like an idiot, apparently)

There are probably too many things going on for her to hold on to how Emma has wronged her. Hopefully, now that they need each other, the former queen will understand that they're stronger together. It's what she's been thinking for a long time, but Emma knows it's a tough sell to Regina.

She also knows that unless they work together, they're probably all screwed.]

Do you have any ideas on how to figure this out? If you do, I'd like to hear them.

[She's not suggesting they sit back and accept any of this, but the doors are missing, the windows are secure, there's no one around but other people in the same exact situation they're in, and nothing looks familiar. It's not that no one is trying, they just don't know where to begin.]

Neal said he ran into you earlier. Are you alright?

[gloriouscurse]

[Regina would probably, in all likelihood, be lying if she said she wasn't glad to see Emma. If only because that meant there was someone other than her here who should have magic. Except with her here, Henry's parent-less in Storybrooke.]

I have no idea what this is other than a mass kidnapping. And if we're both here, then our son is stuck with your parents to keep him alive.

[It's not that she doesn't think they're capable, it's just that she'd rather be there with him; being reunited with him for just a couple of weeks isn't enough after a year without him.]

I'm as fine as I can be with magic that doesn't work in a place with no windows and no doors. At least none that go anywhere useful.

[sheriffing]

I'd rather know he's home than worry about him being here.

[Her parents are perfectly capable of keeping Henry safe. In this world, without their magic and knowing how much of it had to have been used to get them here, Emma isn't sure she and Regina would have been able to protect him. The kid's been through enough because of them.

This time, she'd rather know he gets to sit out than to have him beside her - especially when they still don't have the slightest clue as to what they're dealing with.]

Then we'll have to make our own way out.

[They'll figure it out, they just need some time to see how this place operates. Maybe their magic isn't even gone, just blocked.

It wouldn't be the first time.]

[gloriouscurse]

How? I can't do anything with my magic other than sparks.

[Being powerless is, for Regina, violating something about her. She'd been tortured last time her magic had simply been taken, and that fact alone has her on edge. But she takes a breath and runs her hands over her face, up into her hair.]

I need a drink.

[sheriffing]

You need to take a breath.

[Because this? This doesn't do them any good. It's not going to get back what they lost, and more importantly, it's not going to get them home. It's different for Regina, that much Emma does understand. She hasn't had magic for long enough to actually embrace her abilities, but to Regina, it's a part of her.]

We're going to get back to our son, we just need some time to figure this out.

[And time is one thing they seem to have. She reaches out, one hand resting against Regina's arm reassuringly.]

We can do this. We're going to do this.

[gloriouscurse]

I'm fine, Swan. Don't worry about me.

[Though, Regina does take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. And she nods, because they have a common interest here: getting back to Henry, and if there's one thing she knows for certain about Emma, it's that she won't sit idly by. She doesn't even shrug off Emma's touch, just nods, swallowing.]

Stronger together right?

[It was what she'd pitched in Neverland, anyway.]

[sheriffing]

Stronger together.

[Emma smiles weakly, letting her hand fall to her side before Regina order it away. She's not always sure how to comfort Regina, but she knows the truth should help. They've never been through anything that was more powerful than the two of them put together. If they work side by side on this, they should be able to find their way home to their son.]

Do you know anyone who would have the power to put us in a place like this?

[Storybrooke is always good for a surprise enemy or two, but the people here are from so many places that it's more likely it wasn't someone from town.]

[gloriouscurse]

[Regina lowers her voice a little after looking around, trying to afford them both some kind of privacy. For Emma, mainly, because she's not sure how emotional the woman still is about Neal.]

This place should be impossible. The things it's doing, or can do. Not to bring up the obvious, but Neal is dead. and he remembers it. No magic, not Rumple's, Blue's, hell, not even Zelena's can do that. Nothing can bring back the dead. Not...correctly.

[She says it with absolute certainty.]

Neal being here is enough of a clue. This won't be easy. Whoever or...whatever is doing this, is powerful.

[sheriffing]

We said time travel was impossible too, Regina.

[In Storybrooke, things are impossible until someone makes them possible. She feels the same way about Neal now that she did when she lost him - she loves him, she always will - but it's not just her wanting to believe he's his old self again that makes her believe he is. If something was wrong with him, she'd know.

Regina's right, there's nothing. It's like he never died. He's exactly the way she remembers him.]

You don't think Gold found some kind of loophole, do you?

[gloriouscurse]

Bringing back the dead isn't impossible. Whale did it.

[She goes quiet and still for a moment at that, but then she shakes her head and takes a deep breath, letting it out.]

No. If Gold did this, if he brought Neal back, he wouldn't do it without knowing they'd be together. That'd...be the point, right? To have his son, to be with him. There are too many people here from other places. He has a wide reach, but not that wide.

[That imp isn't as important as he likes to think he is, and she won't entertain the thought even when he isn't here.]

I wanted to believe it was him, and I did, until I saw Neal here and no Rumple.

[sheriffing]

[Would Gold make sure they'd be together? No, not necessarily; not if he could send the rest of them out to get Neal and have that create the same result. Still, Regina has a point when it comes to people from other worlds. This isn't an enemy of Storybrooke, it's bigger than that. The people who were dragged into this aren't specific to one place.]

You know, it'd be easier if it was him.

[Which all but guarantees that there's something or someone else pulling the strings here. If there's one thing their lives aren't, it's easy.]

Neal thinks we need to take it slow. Settle in for the night, avoid the chaos of everyone rushing around, see what we have to work with in the morning.

[Just makes Emma wonder if he forgot how hard doing nothing is for her.]

[gloriouscurse]

[Regina can't help but share a look with Emma. Neither one of them sit and do nothing well, for very long.]

I don't know what else we're supposed to do.

[Just because she doesn't like it, doesn't mean Neal isn't right. Taking a deep breath, she lets it out as a frustrated sigh.]

We'll figure it out. Hopefully.

[sheriffing]

We've done it once before, we can do it again.

[Makes her wonder, though, about once before. Are they sure Pan's dead? She tilts her head toward the staircase and shrugs.]

I'm going to keep looking around. Right now, that's the best we can do.

[gloriouscurse]

I'll let you know if I find anything.

[She expects Emma to do the same, though she hesitates as she turns away from her. What if she's not here later, what if they're separated? She tries not to think about it, and just forges on, determined now to figure out how she got here in the first place.]