And then the next, she’s running through a lush forest. Was this part of Vecna’s curse? Nancy didn’t know. She didn’t have time to think about it because she was being chased. At first it was predatory stalking. Nancy felt eyes on her, but in her utter confusion had failed to notice it until it was a little too late.
Something had hit her in the head. Paper airplane shaped. There was no time for any sort of detective work, not when you’re being chased. Nancy needed to lose whatever was chasing her and somehow collect her thoughts. Get her barrings . Assess the situation.
Fallen twigs snapped beneath her footfalls and low hanging branches were ducked under as she sped her way deeper into the forest. She had been running what felt like eons before the threat of being chased vanished. Why did it stop chasing her? Nancy had the faintest clue, but she wasn’t going to really dwell on it.
This gave her the time to compartmentalize her situation. What was most important? The thing that hit her head earlier. It was now a crumpled mess in her pocket. She pulled it out and started to delicately unfold the paper. Nancy barely got into the first paragraph when she was interrupted by a sound.
Someone. Something was steadily approaching. Letter was back in her pocket and without any hesitation picked up a thick branch; Nancy was ready to rock whoever or whatever was coming near.
The trees had to be messing with him. What was just a short walk to explore turned into trying to figure out how he kept looping back on the same thicket. Or maybe it was different. It wasn’t like Steve was any kind of expert on flora, and he wasn’t about to learn that skill inside seven days.
On the other hand, feeling incrementally more and more like something was playing with him made his step fall heavier with frustration. He didn’t even consider that someone else was out here because maybe everyone else was smart enough to take a friend along so they could at least get lost together. What a concept, huh?
He pushed on, stepping around a tree and nearly into someone just on the other side of it. He stopped, pulled back a step, and flung his hands up in small defense (and apology -- his bad for sure). “Whoa -- hey, sorry!”
Before Nancy could register the familiar face, she swung. But, luckily for Steve, she missed him by a hair. Nancy was already reeling the stick back when —
“Steve!” She gasped. In an instant, relief washed over her. Nancy wasn’t alone now and she was forever grateful of that. “Wait. How did you get here?” A pause and a quick beat later, she added, “Where is here?”
Now that things seemed to be calm around them, Nancy took the time to look around. She’s never seen this place before. This wasn’t any place in Hawkins, Indiana, that was for sure.
“What happened?” Her attention ticked back over to Steve. He looked different. Not too different. He’s just wearing different clothes. He didn’t look like he’d just been in the Upside Down.
“Where did you get those clothes?”
The way it dawned on Steve was a series of steps, staggered in a way that made him reply as such:
“Nancy?”
“Nance?”
“NANCE!”
Each reply eroded confusion and built up towards relief. Because the last he saw her, she had been in Vecna’s grip: unresponsive, eyes rolled back. It was the sort of situation where he didn’t know if they had the time or tools to save her. It was, as Steve had time to ruminate on, possibly the last time he might have seen her. Full stop.
She was asking him questions, but he couldn’t help himself. He threw his arms around her. It was a hug given out of gratitude, but he made sure it wasn’t too much. They weren’t together. As a friend, he was glad to have his friend here. His friend that he cared deeply about, but a friend no less.
“I’ll have answers, but give me a sec here. I thought I wasn’t gonna see you again.”
Nancy?
Nance?
Nance!
That was her. That was her name. She was here. She was alive.
Nancy opened her mouth to say something, but before that could happen, she was interrupted. It was a pleasant interruption. His hug was a reassurance. Reassurance that Steve was as solid as he looked. Relief washed over her like a calm wave and she accepted it without hesitation.
“I -” she paused for a beat. “I didn’t think I was going to see you again.” Not when she was in Vecna’s hold. Who would know her favorite song? How would they rescue her?
“What is this place?”
He held on, just a second longer. Then he let go, sure that she was solid and real. If Vecna couldn’t reach her in this place, then maybe Derleth wasn’t so bad after all.
Maybe.
“Okay, so the best I got is…” He raised his hands in front of him and paused, trying to think how to put it. “Like the Upside Down. Other world? But not a place where everything is dead and wants to kill you. And there’s a bunch of people here. I don’t know most of them. Some of them know me. It makes no sense.” He put his hands down. They didn’t end up doing more than whirling in the air as Steve tried to explain everything with his loose understanding.
“They call it Derleth. Honestly, kinda sounds like something a dentist tells you that you have because you didn’t brush your teeth enough.” He resolved all that with a shrug.
There was that Steve Harrington charm. She tried to stifle a chuckle behind a crooked smirk. He's always seemed to know how to lighten the mood. Whether it was intentional or not was another question.
But — Nancy was relieved to see him. Out of everyone here, she was glad it was him.
"Well. Where's Derleth," she asked, mentally packing away everything that Steve had thrown at her.