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[znomnbier]

The last time Liv woke up at the beach was the day she woke up in a body bag.

Liv sat up quickly, brushing the sand from her jeans. She didn’t remember driving to the lake but it really didn’t surprise her she was here. This was the last place anyone would think to look for her and she wasn’t in the mood to be around people right now. Plus, the last brain she ate had been from the stoner kid. Peppy Cheerleader wasn’t going to cut it with the way she felt now. She needed something that was inclined to drown her problems in whatever pharmaceutical she could get her hands on. Too bad she didn’t still have a sample from the alcoholic brain.

Liv had rushed back to the morgue the moment her mother had burst into tears. She had killed her brother. It was the icing on top of the shit cake of her life. What else was she supposed to do? Major hated her for taking the choice away from him. There wasn’t any more cure left. If she allowed the doctors to take her blood and give it to Evan it was dooming him to a life of a monster. And that was actually the best case scenario. What if the doctors decided to use her blood for another person? Or a nurse mistakenly stabbed herself with a bloody needle? There were too many variables for Liv to count. As much as she wanted to help Evan, she couldn’t. Damned if she helped and damned if she didn’t – there was no denying it anymore: Liv was a monster.

She’d eaten the last of the stoner kid’s brain, only stopping to dump half a bottle of Siracha on top. She scarfed it down and stopped at the nearest liquor store and picked up the largest bottle of Fireball Whiskey she could find. That was the last thing she remembered until now. The bottle of Whiskey was gone – possibly floating in the lake – but the strangest thing about it was she never remembered Lake Washington having waves before.

She reached into her pocket to pull out her cellphone. It was gone, replaced with a black looking device. It was relatively the same and she was too confused to care. Still, even though she spent the evening in a black out haze, she needed to know how Evan’s surgery had gone. Punching in the number for Ravi’s phone, Liv placed the black device up to her ear.

Silence. Not even a damned ring tone. Instead of being scared, she was pissed. Someone had grabbed her phone and replaced it with some broken piece of junk. She flipped through the files, grumbling when she didn’t even see an icon for Facebook. Who didn’t have Facebook? Not that she was on it regularly anymore – just the principle of the matter.

Liv pressed the nearest button that looked to be some sort of video mail and sent it out to anyone who was on this joker’s contact list. It was much easier to focus on the moron who stole her phone than anything else. Anger was a perfect distraction.

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[The video comes into focus. A pale girl with limp blonde hair and dark circles stares into the camera. She looks pissed.]

To all the Asshats that have the misfortune of being on numbnuts friendslist – I have his, her, whatevers phone. It sucks. I want mine back. You have this number so text me back an address.

[The girl looks up, distracted. She squints her eyes as if she can see someone in the distance. Flipping her hoodie up over her head she looks down at the screen.]

Seriously, I will spam your mailbox until I get a reply. Don’t think I won’t.

[The screen goes black. Liv slips the black phone into her pocket. Someone is walking towards her and she puts her head down, not really wanting to make eye contact. Maybe it was a bad idea she came to the Lake. Too many bad memories here. Of course, the moment she starts walking and sees the strange house in the distance, it dawns on her that all of the lake side houses are on the opposite shore. It doesn’t make any sense. If she isn’t at the lake, then where the hell is she?]

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action;

[circlejerked]

Anders' arrival, sudden and unceremonious as it was, deposited him in the forest on the opposite end of the grounds from Liv. Left standing in ankle-deep snow, he had nothing enlightening to say after a solid five minutes considering the trees around him other than, "Well, I don't remember deciding to visit a snowy forest."

No amount of rifling through his memory gave him a hint as to how this... whatever this was, probably something bad knowing his luck... had happened, or how he'd come to be standing in a forest without a single footprint leading toward or away from him. Magic? The only problem with that theory was that he couldn't sense any remnants of spells.

Mysterious magic, then? Rarely a good sign.

"And here I thought I was done being whisked away to strange places."

With nothing else for it, Anders made for the glimpse of flat land he could see through the trees, which brought him to a field and a garden beyond that. He was thankful he'd at least been allowed to keep his robes and his staff; he had yet to experience walking across an open field in nothing but his smallclothes and wanted to keep it that way.

He'd just made his third 360 degree turn, spinning to take in all of the sights, when his eyes fell on Liv and he felt a warm relief trickle into his breast. He hadn't seen anyone on his approach and he was beginning to wonder if he was totally alone out here. If one was going to be stranded somewhere, best to be stranded with a bunch of burly companions with swords and axes.

"A living person!" The irony was lost on him in that moment. Grinning, Anders started toward her. "I was beginning to worry this was a desolate winter wonderland in the middle of nowhere... aside from that unsettling-looking manor over there. Say, don't suppose you could tell me where this is?" Let it not be said that a mansion that seemed to want to draw him in to his doom kept him from politely asking for directions when inexplicably finding himself lost.

[znomnbier]

The closer she walked to the manor, the more she realized she wasn't in Seattle any longer. Maybe she was still drunk but that was quickly becoming less likely answer as she didn't feel hung over or swimmy. The snow was the strangest part of all. It hadn't been winter when she sat down on the edge of the lake last night. Was she becoming Rip Van Winkle on top of being a Zombie?

The man that approached her was grinning far too brightly. When he opened his mouth he sounded as if he belonged in that silly MMO game that Ravi and Major still played. It would be just perfect if she wandered into a troop of nerds who took Might and Magic way too seriously.

"Can't really help you there, Lancelot," Liv replied sarcastically. "You might want to tone it down a notch. Breaking character won't kill you, you know."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the black phone. Maybe he knew what the hell happened to her cellphone. "Hey, does this phone look familiar to you? Did one of your asshole friends drop it on the beach last night?"

[circlejerked]

"It's pronounced Anders, actually," he corrected with the ease of someone used to parrying insults aimed at him. The grin dimmed, but didn't disappear entirely. "But close. You got a few of the vowels right if we're being generous." The thing was, usually Anders had an idea of where he was in general relation to Ferelden when people were mocking him. His growing confusion left little room to be put off by her surliness.

No matter where he looked, he didn't recognize a single feature of the landscape that he could pin down to the Amaranthine region. Not the species of trees in the forest. Not the gentle rolling hills. Not the unseasonable weather. And she wasn't providing any clues, unintentional or otherwise--he wouldn't have been able to place her style of dress if someone paid him.

The slang and unintelligible accusations of wrongdoing pouring out of her weren't helping to clear matters up. He squinted at the small metallic object she put on display.

If she wanted an answer, she'd have to start by explaining what that thing was. A phone? What was a phone?

"Point me in their direction and I'd be happy to ask for you--maybe more nicely than that." He spread his hands helplessly. Take pity on a lost traveller? "I have my hands full figuring out where I am today. I can tell you one thing for sure: I wasn't here last night. Or any other night. I haven't been here before today."

[znomnbier]

Liv sighed and slipped the device back into her pocket. She was still wary about the guy but he seemed genuine. Plus, she didn't have to be so rude. She could blame it on the brains but truth was she was scared and didn't know how to show it. Pushing people away had become a way of life for her recently. Current events hadn't given her much cause to change her attitude.

"Don't worry about it," she shrugged. "Guess it wasn't your party. You've answered my next question for me - where is here and since you don't know it would be pointless to ask."

She looked over at the manor and shivered. Why did she feel a sense of foreboding whenever she looked at the structure? "Maybe whoever lives there can tell us," she offered, her tone less brisk than before. "Of course, with my luck, it will turn out to be some crazy axe murderer living there."

[circlejerked]

Shame, he hated to miss a good party. But Anders was brought up short by her revealing she was equally as lost as himself and shook his head. Hold on a second...

"You don't know where this is, either? What are the chances of that?" he said, discontent gaining ground on his good humor. "I was going to ask you what was going on. Guess that's a bust."

But if there were other people around to question, odds were they'd be found in the only habitable place within sight--the very same mansion Liv had her eye on. It failed to fill Anders with a greater sense of excitement. Fearing of the unknown was a wise course of action when so often the unknown could stab you in the spleen and make off with your valuables.

From the reserves of his humored spirits, Anders tore his gaze from the mansion and smiled sidelong at her. "Then combined with my luck--which, for the record, tends to range from poor to very poor--things are looking grim for us two. But don't worry, the axe murderers will have a fight on their hands with me. And I'd wager with you, too, if you have a knife hand to match that sharp tongue."

[znomnbier]

Liv managed the ghost of a smile. The guy might be one of those MMO nuts, but so was Ravi. Hell, if Ravi was here he would fall in perfect step with this guy. Of all the people she could have run into, she supposed it could have been worse. He seemed mostly harmless.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Liv snorted. "I'd rather not show off my knife wielding skills just yet. That's my ace in the hole."

She started walking in the direction of the manor. "So, if this does end up going south, I can count on you to put up a fight? That armor isn't just for show, right?"

[circlejerked]

"Finding a strange mansion in a strange place like this?" It went without saying that the creep factor of this situation was steadily increasing. "I'd consider keeping that ace within reach. Not that I'm worried or anything. I love unexpected side trips."

And sarcasm, as well. But wherever and whatever this place is, Anders was fairly confident he'd figure something out. Life in the Tower had taught him endurance, and life outside of it had taught him to stay on his toes.

He used his thumb to point at the staff strapped to his back, taller than him and solid-looking. No cheap paper mache costume accessory, that. "Rest assured, it makes for a good bludgeon even without the bonus of magic. We can help each other out. I'll help you find your friends, and you can help me find mine... wherever they are. They're not all asses. Some more than others." But if he had half a chance, he'd love to see this woman call Velanna an asshole to her face just to see how quickly steam erupted from the elf's ears.

[znomnbier]

"Yeah, friends," Liv repeated, carefully eyeing the staff on Anders' back. She'd never seen a weapon like that out of some medieval themed restaurant or museum. It looked real enough which made her even more cautious.

"I doubt we'll find any of my friends searching for me," Liv said, shoving her hands into her hoodie. Well, Ravi might like to find her. He was just about the only one that knew and didn't want to put gather the mobs with the pointed stakes. "But it'd be nice if there is a phone in there. That way I could let Ravi know I won't be in to work today."

[circlejerked]

She sounded sure that her people wouldn't be looking for her right away. He, on the other hand, had been with the other Wardens--if he was here, they had to be nearby. So Anders wanted to hope.

"Well, I was with some of my own, and their idea of a party is the 'heavily armed and dangerous' kind. I... wouldn't mind if they were here right about now..." On the chance this was some bizarre part of the Fade he'd never encountered before and they were about to walk into a room full of demons sipping wine and chatting about their long soul-sucking humans, he'd prefer his team at his back, all things considered.

On the winding path that led them past a large, elegantly-sculpted fountain, he looked down at the pocket the woman had stored the small object. "You mentioned that before--the phone. Is it important? And another question now that we're sharing: do you have a name, by chance, or is it my turn to take a guess?"

[znomnbier]

"Sounds like a red-neck sort of party," Liv said with a smile. She pulled the device out of her pocket, running her finger over the screen.

"My phone is important but any phone would do at this point. This one seems to have some sort of filter on it. The only numbers available are people with similar phones. At least, that's what it looks like."

She slipped the phone into her pocket before offering her hand. "Sorry about that. My name is Liv. Didn't mean to be rude. I think it was something I ate that disagreed with me."

[circlejerked]

Redneck? Certainly red something. That something usually happened to be the blood of whatever got in their way.

"That'd be helpful if I knew what a phone was," he said in response to her explanation and the overly large blank he was drawing from it. What worried him wasn't that they'd gotten off on the wrong foot, but that she seemed to expect him to know about these things intuitively with a native's knowledge.

The hang-up over the phones didn't stop him from pausing in his steps and accepting her hand. Her skin was like a soft marble, pale and cool to the touch; it had him considering she really meant it about being under the weather.

"Mm, I find not remembering how I've gotten somewhere disagrees with my digestion, too." Though he was mostly joking, his healer's instincts prompted him to make the observation. "You do look a little peaky, if you don't mind my saying."