How irrelevant time was becoming terrified her on so many levels. It was probably around a month or so now that Roz had been in this hell-hole. If it was hell. Her best guess was more likely an Eldritch terror, but she couldn’t figure out what one, or how. The days blended together. For the most part she stayed at the Academy, exploring, reading, or trying her hand at spells that looked like they might not end in total disaster. Her success was varying. Roz didn’t get much sleep in this place, which contributed to the blurred days. Her dreams were often nightmares, fueled by what she was seeing outside of the Academy, and the monsters that could end up killing her at any moment.
Still, she was thankful for them, always. If it weren’t for them, she wouldn’t be able to navigate her way through the city to find supplies. She knew there were other people out there. She’d seen them, heard them. But she didn’t know if she could trust them, so Roz kept her distance, and relied on herself. From what she could, she was all she had. At least until Sabrina found a way to get her out, because God only knew Roz had failed at that. Sabrina always came through.
Her food supply had run out yesterday morning, which meant it was time to go out and try to find more. She was hungry now, but it would only impact her more in the coming days.
She had a sword, just in case. Roz had stopped asking why a school would have something like a sword in it a while ago. Witches had rules of their own that she had mostly stopped questioning because she was going to have to learn to accept it. She only had some vague ideas on how to swing it from watching Prudence, but at least it was something. Between her powers and her sword, she was managing.
The convenience store that was half a block away was already mostly cleaned out. But there was a large grocery store that was about a ten minute walk. She’d made it before, though she hadn’t made it back with food, just her life. The fading bruise and healing cut on her face was a sign of it. She was determined to make it this time though. She had to, or she had to spend more time trying to find another place to get food. Who knew how long that would take?
Luckily, the trip there was mostly uneventful. She made it into the store, and slowly began to move down the isles, pulling items off the shelf and putting into a bag she was using for supplies. As she moved, she watched, and listened carefully, keeping her senses peeled for anyone or anything else moving.
Vallo was an incredibly vast place but as empty as it was large, and Nick had initially gone days without seeing anyone. Eventually he'd run into a few people, but had little interest in tying himself to a group. He had his own agenda that he doubted anyone could help him with and in the absence of anyone he knew, he was comfortable enough on his own.
That wasn't to say he hadn't spoken to anyone. There were a few people Nick kept tabs on, most notably some guy from Riverdale. There was something recognizable in Archie's expression, and the proximity of their respective homes elsewhere had fueled Nick's belief that he might find Sabrina here, or that he was on the right path on trying to work out whether or not he was trapped inside an Eldritch terror. So he'd made a point of keeping in touch with one other person, at least.
And while his discovery of Dorian's had proven quite useful, he knew he needed more than to his diet than a seemingly endless supply of alcohol. So he was in the grocery store when he heard someone else arrive. He stalked quietly down the aisle, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever it was without being seen himself.
Except he grossly miscalculated the distance of the footsteps he'd heard and when he turned the corner he was face to face with the store's only other customer. He caught sight of her face briefly, teleporting away out of reflex before he realized who she was. Seconds later, he was back in the store, now finding himself mere steps apart from the only familiar face he'd seen thus far in Vallo.
"Roz?"
He was there and gone so fast. She barely had a chance to process who she was seeing before he teleported away. A trick Roz did not know. “...Nick?” She said to a now empty space, turning around slowly to see if he was anywhere else in the building. That had been Nick, right?
She nearly jumped out of her skin when he teleported back, and one hand went to her heart. “Oh my god, you scared me!” she hissed, keeping her voice down out of habit.
Roz had never really hung out with Nick outside of their group dates or the end of the world engagements that seemed to crop up every few weeks. Still, that didn’t stop her from walking the couple of steps that separated him and pulling him into a hug. Was it weird? She didn’t know, didn’t care. He was the first person she’d been within a few feet of in over a month. Roz needed a damn hug.
“How long have you been here?” she asked when she let go, taking a step back. “Is anyone else with you?”
"Sorry," he replied, looking appropriately apologetic for a moment, though that expression was quickly replaced by a combination of bewilderment and relief. He didn't even protest when she was suddenly hugging him, somewhat awkwardly returning the hug because he understood the need for it.
"A month," Nick replied as Roz took a step back, still surprised to have found her. "And no, you're the first person I've seen from home. But there's got to be more, right? I mean the mortuary's here. I'm staying there," he added.
"You?"
“The mortuary?” She hadn’t seen the Spellman’s place at all, this was news to her. “I’ve found Doctor C’s, and the Academy. Dr. C’s is pretty picked clean, but the Academy is...fine. It’s where I’ve been staying.” It wasn’t what it was, but that could be said about everything here. The empty sleeping quarters were a level of depressing and creepy she didn’t want to think about. Roz had dealt with that by hunting down the room of the headmaster and making it her own.
He mentioned the mortuary, but he hadn’t mentioned Sabrina, which meant she probably wasn’t here. “I haven’t seen anyone. Anyone that we know, at least. I’ve seen other people, but I’ve been here a month too. You’re the first from home.” No Harvey, no Theo or Robin. But now there was Nick, and she didn’t think she’d ever been more happy to see him.
“This has to be an Eldritch terror, right? Do you know which one?”
Apparently Nick had done a terrible job of checking the Academy for signs that anyone else had been there the last time he'd dropped by, and he frowned at the implications. Had he overlooked something in Pandemonium? The thought nearly caused him to shudder, but he pulled himself together. He could return. Even as the place called to him, it didn't own him and he owed it nothing. Still, he spoke to break up his own thoughts.
"Dorian's is here too, I've been raiding the liquor stash there," he admitted, not even ashamed. They were stuck in this wasteland, who was going to begrudge him that particular escape? "Are you wanting to stay at the Academy? Because there's spare rooms at the mortuary and I know Sabrina or her aunts wouldn't mind if they were here."
Glancing pass the registers and instead to the deserted streets outside, he added, "Maybe we should continue this conversation at the Academy?"
Perhaps copious amounts of alcohol and a hellscape wasn’t the best idea, but she kept her comments to herself. “If you’re at the Spellman’s, then it’s probably smart to stick together, right?” Not only was it safer, but if she had to live alone for another month, Roz didn’t know how well she’d come through.
“We’re okay.” she said confidently, as if there was no doubt they were in immediate danger. “I just need to grab some things, and then we can go.” She had come here for a specific reason. Though finding Nick was the highlight of the trip, she still needed what she came for. “Just give me a minute.”
Roz slung the bag over her shoulder, and then continued her way down the aisle, disappearing around a corner for a minute or two. She’d never moved through a supply run as fast as she did this time, shoving what she needed into her bag. When she made her way back to Nick, it was significantly heavier.
“Good to go.” she confirmed, bag securely in hand. Roz had to assume they were going to be going Nick’s way, through teleportation. He probably didn’t want to travel through the city the way Roz did. She really needed to learn that trick.
Nick waited, not terribly anxious but he now had more than just himself to think about should something happen. With the post-apocalyptic state of the city, possibilities ranged from some deranged monster to the building collapsing. At least the mortuary was familiar, even if it seemed to be suffering here as well.
When Roz returned, he nodded, then teleported away without a word, waiting for her to join him. And waited. After a minute, he checked outside with no luck. He called out her name as he went back in, to no response. What the heaven could have happened in mere seconds?
With growing concern, he teleported back to the store.
And then he was gone. She was still in the store. With a sigh, Roz crossed her arms and waited.
She really needed to learn that trick.
It was only a few seconds, but seconds could feel longer than they actually were. For one of them, she started to wonder if he wasn’t going to come back. Had something happened when he landed?
When he returned, Roz let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and then looked at him with a deadpan stare. “Did you forget that I thought I was mortal until recently and was never taught magic?!”
It was only as he'd landed back that it had hit him, and she reiterated the fact with her words. "Right," he said, looking extremely sheepish. "Do me a favor and never tell Sabrina how I left her best friend behind?"
He didn't give her much of a chance to answer before teleporting the both of them to the Academy. "I'll teach you how to teleport and as much else as I can." He paused to look at her, smiling ruefully. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."
Nick just did things abruptly without asking, she was filing that away so she wouldn’t be caught off guard the next time he had to teleport her somewhere, or something else. Once they were back at the Academy, she first checked her surroundings, then looked at him with a nod. “Deal. You teach me what you can, and that never happened.” She said with a grin. She wouldn’t have told Sabrina anyway, he had instantly come back for her after all.
As for the academy. “I found Blackwoods old living quarters. I think that’s what they are anyway. I cleared it out and moved in there. I’ve spent most of the time there, or in the library.” At least she had a lot more knowledge regarding magic these days.
Nick gave Roz an appraising look. "I'm impressed. I wouldn't have wanted anywhere near it, unless to look through his things." Though the Academy itself was odd in this place, so it was doubtful he would find what he was looking for anyway.
"I've borrowed some of the books from this library," he admitted. "They're at the mortuary or at Dorian's." Research conducted over drinks was the only way he could consider the possibilities at times.
"I've wondered if this place is tied to the Cosmic," he said, returning to her earlier question. "The different locations from home in a new universe have to be here for a reason, right?" Ambrose had seemed to think it wouldn't be all that different, though.
“I don’t think it’s the same as it was when it was in it, if Zelda had the chance to change anything. If I thought it was his I burned it.” she said with a casual shrug. Blackwood was just a head on a plate now, she wasn’t going to let any possessions stop her. Her sight would have told her if something was dangerous to touch.
She never would have known they were missing anyway, she hadn’t become familiar enough with all of the books yet, there was a lot to get through. “I didn’t notice.” she admitted. “Maybe if I was more familiar with the collection I would have, but.” she shrugged. Oh well, it didn’t really matter now.
She’d had the same thought, and it caused her frown as she considered his words. “I’d had a similar thought. But then Sabrina Morningstar would be here, wouldn’t she? And the Academy itself. It’s similar to the one at home, but it’s different too. Like there’s been more changes or something. Not just the fact that it looks like it hasn’t been used in years.”
"I've been looking for her," Nick admitted. "Her or Spellman, because nothing really adds up and when I found Pandemonium it looked like a battle had taken place. Now I think I'm going to have to go back."
He frowned at the thought, looking around the Academy, knowing that it was large enough that two people could easily keep missing each other within. But if Roz had been around the same amount of time as he had, he should have noticed something.
"Are you going to pack up now?" he asked her. "I can help."
She was familiar with Pandemonium. Roz had been there before, first to get Nick bad from Lilith. The throne room hadn’t been terrible, but the trip there was not one she’d ever want to repeat. “Not alone.” she said the words before she processed what she was doing. But she knew she was right. Even if no one was there, it was still a part of hell. He shouldn’t be going there alone.
Roz nodded at his question, and then started walking toward her room without a word, leading the way. She didn’t have a lot. A few changes of clothes she’d managed to find, a few toiletries, mostly it was books she was reading.
When she got to the room she was staying in, she walked in and started throwing things together in whatever was available for storage. She pointed to some of the books Nick could help with, and then mostly worked in silence until everything was packed and they were good to go. “Have you talked to many of the other people here yet?”
Under normal circumstances, Nick may have protested Roz wanting to tag along in Pandemonium. But given how creepy he found the place, he simply nodded without adding that he'd found it because it had called to him. "We stick together in there," he said, laying out a ground rule.
Packing up the books gave Nick an idea of what Roz was interested in, and he started making a mental list of spells to teach her. He couldn't imagine where he would have been without the Academy, and especially without knowing what he was. He'd torn through the library when he first arrived, so he could respect that she was doing the same.
"There's someone named Archie from Riverdale," Nick mentioned. "And I've talked to a few others, joined up in a few fights. For the most part they seem to be focused on how to survive here and I've been looking at getting back home."
Why he wanted to get home was left unspoken. They were both aware of the stakes they had been facing. What sort of world would they return to?
She nodded in agreement immediately, feeling a small bit of relief. Stick together. She wouldn’t be constantly alone. Maybe they’d be able to get out of this place after all.
“That name sounds familiar.” she responded, but couldn’t place where she’d heard it before. Riverdale was just across the river though, so any big news that hit them was often talked about in Greendale. “I haven’t really talked to any of them, but maybe I should.” If Nick had managed fine, then it was probably safe to at least reach out.
When she had everything that she wanted gathered and together, she took one last glance around the room, nodded when she was sure she was good, and turned back to Nick. “All set. Lets get out of here.”