There is a clearing up ahead. In the midst of the clearing, a building of wood and stone, architecture quite unlike anything he's seen in these woods before. Above the door, a swinging sign, bearing a single word, a name, in the latin alphabet:

Milliways

Now what is an English tavern doing in the forests of the New World? Cautious, Druig reaches out-

-and finds no mind he can perceive.

An empty English tavern? Or a place of some strange power, shielded from his senses?

Sersi and Ajak would advise caution. One of those voices he has spent the past decades listening to, off and on, trying to discern what she would do for his people were she here. The other he has been viciously ignoring.

Makkari would advise... adventure.

Cautious, but unable to resist his curiosity, Druig pushes open the door.

Inside... is not what he would have expected, had he been expecting anything at all. A tavern, yes. Tables and booths aplenty, a long bar-top along one wall, blazing fireplaces opposite the door, surrounded by comfortable furniture.

This is where the familiarity ends, however.

It is snowing inside. Druig hasn't seen snow in nearly a century, but here it is, falling gently from the ceiling to vanish as it reaches a surface, or gather at the edges of the room, unmelting despite the temperature inside. Speaking of, it's actually cooler in 'Milliways' than it was in the forest he'd come from - even just inside the door, where the heat outside should be encroaching.

Icicles hang from the ceiling in places, he notes, his gaze panning over the white surface. From the bar-top, as well, and places on the furniture, too. Plantlife of some kind festoons the walls, the tables and chairs and the sides of the bar, holly and mistletoe and others he hasn't seen in decades, or at all.

It looks like a winter festival inside this room. He doesn't quite know what to make of it, standing stock-still in the doorway for several moments as he takes it in.

There's a young woman sat at one the tables nearby, poking curiously at her full plate of food. She's never seen any of this type of food before. She did order it though, and the talking Bar told her it was safe to eat...

She's not quite sure she should trust an obviously talking magical ?object?person? Especially without knowing how it was created. But also- the star scape outside the window is a very convincing argument! But also it could be a very elaborate magical construct - she learned about Chambre de Chasses when she was in school; magical locations created in the astral plane. Usually they're used to trap someone in their own mind.

But also August has been trapped into her very own prison world for the last four decades, which is absolutely a better prison than anything anyone else can create on the astral plane. So this whole... Bar At The End Of The Universe thing....

August is so confused.

-ah, now he can sense a mind. Druig focuses on the human poking at her food across the room, allowing the door to swing closed behind him as he steps further inside.

August startles and stands up. She's very not used to people just.... existing. In theory there are two other people in her prison world, two other prisoners, but she hasn't seen either of them in decades. The Earth is very very big, especially with only three people on it.

She stares at the newcomer, unsure what... she doesn't have any magic. Hasn't siphoned anything in eight years. She can't defend herself.

He stops across the table from her, taking in her reaction.

"...I'm not going to attack you," he starts off with. "Is this... Place, yours?"

- August shakes her head, only relaxing a tiny bit. She's not used to talking with people. Especially strangers.

"I was stuck in a snow storm. It appeared where it was not before."

"That's interesting. Snow doesn't have much place in the forest I came from. Neither does a place like this. Not many taverns in the deep woods of the New World."

"I was traveling through Canada. Northwest." She considers his words. "There are only two other people on my Earth. So finding a tavern that was obviously occupied - with the lights and the fireplace, even if there were no visible people..."

On her Earth?

"Only two other people? What happened to the rest of them?"

"Nothing. It was created with magic by a coven of witches to imprison us. Everyone still exists on the other Earth, presumably, though it has been forty years. We don't age and every time we die, we revert to how we were when the sun rises again the next day."

He leans forward, setting his hands on the back of the chair in front of him to stabilize himself. That seems like... An exceptionally over-powered, yet not entirely inhumane way to deal with criminals. However, knowing humans, if these witches are in fact that...

"Now what did you do to get a sentence like that?"

She is being entirely too forthcoming with a complete stranger, and yet... this is the most she's spoken aloud to anyone in so long.

"We killed a group of teenagers. We'd snuck out of our magical school to spend time with them, but it had been a ruse to bully us. One of us lost control of herself and in the chaos the humans were killed."

Ah.

Not human, then, or simply humans with magic who think much of themselves? Not that this is the important question, here. 

"And so they've trapped you alone in an otherwise empty world, infinitely looping... Until you gain better control of yourself?" He's being too optimistic, of course.

"They didn't say."

"Hm. What kind of magic exactly did she lose control of?"

"She's a werewolf."

"...huh! Haven't seen those. I've heard stories, but never came across them." He leans over the back of the chair, "So your friend lost control, and you and your other friend..."

There isn't really a reason not to tell him everything. Even if she's not immortal here... wherever here is.

"Noah is a vampire. Nerissa the werewolf. Noah lost control once Nerissa drew blood and went into frenzy. I attempted to siphon away his energy, enough so that he was weak. But I grabbed one of the humans instead. It killed them."

Siphon, alright.

"So it was a mistake." He pulls the chair out, casual, stepping around to sit down, "Not even a control issue. And you've spent the last forty years trapped alone in a simulation for unintentionally killing someone?"

August sits down too. "We were warned against it. And we left the school where we were boarding without permission." She pauses. "And lied about the incident after the fact."

"But they found out and imprisoned you."

Nod. "I don't believe the man that ran the school meant for us to be locked away for so long, something must have happened."

"And now this," he gestures around the room, "You said you came in from - north west? 'Canada'," whatever that is, a sentiment that is fairly clear in this expression. "And the weather came along," he adds, a nod to the decorations and indoor snowfall.

"I suppose it could be Christmas time on Earth. We're stuck in October 2nd 2024, the day of a solar eclipse. They used the eclipse to power the spell that sent us to the prison world, so it keeps repeating that day."

"...2024?"

He taps the table for a moment, rhythmically, tap-tap-tap-tap.

"...By what calendar?" 

She eyes him carefully, eyes his hands.

"Gregorian." She thinks back to her knowledge of other calendars. "The Assyrian year is 6774 and I think the Byzantine calendar would mark this year as 7533."

"-mm. I'd been assuming we came from the same time if not the same place. Silly me."

She would usually follow that as a conversational thread, but...

"I could possible call the others and summon them here. Though that depends on whether either of them still have their phones on them."

She receives a raised eyebrow and a wave inviting her to do just that. He watches with interest.

She reaches down under the table to grab her phone and attempts to dial Noah, first.

But she has no service!

"Guess the Canadian wilderness isn't great for phone reception. Or bars at the end of the universe."

Or he's blocking her for some reason? Or this is all in her head, which... could also be his doing.

"...you're going to have to explain 'bars at the end of the universe'."

"That's how it was explained to me. Apparently this bar is outside of time and space. Or perhaps at the end of all time and space. It appears to patrons across the universe and offers them comfort and a meal. Company. Time moves differently here, so if you were to walk out the door now, no time will have passed in your original world."

He could actually be ignorant. Or this also could be another possible fabrication. Either way, there's no real downside to explaining what she knows.

...He tilts his head, looking back towards the door he'd come in through for a long moment, expression going distant.

Then he sits up straight, looking around the festive room with more interest, "Who explained it to you?"

"The bar itself. Napkins appeared when I approached and she introduced herself through them. A non-corporeal entity, maybe? Or perhaps she is actually the literal bar. Unclear."

He stands to go investigate!

A napkin appears once he gets close.

Hello, it says, Welcome to Milliways. Would you care for a drink? Your first is free, along with any subsequent hot drinks during the winter holiday event.

He picks up the napkin, reading it over.

"...do you have Kurunnītu?"

A tall bronze pot appears on the bartop before him, artfully etched with the image of a man and a woman drinking together from a pot through long straws. A long straw of his own appears beside it, made of some kind of reed, along with a napkin. It smells strongly of herbs and heady alcohol.

I have everything, says the new napkin, not a little smug.

He lifts the straw and slides it into the top of the pot, taking a cautious sip. He can't help a smile in response to the flavour.

"You really do," he compliments her. "I haven't tasted anything so close in three thousand years."

August watches distantly, but gives him privacy. Takes another bite of... whatever she was served.

His following conversation with Bar is short and fairly quiet on his end. She confirms what the girl had said, and even consents to allow him to attempt to use his power on her, briefly, with little in the way of result. He can sense a mind to interact with, but no method of interaction - he isn't telepathic, and she's immune to his control.

Thanking her, he takes his drink and rejoins his fellow patron at the table.

"My name is Druig," he tells her as he takes his seat. "Apologies for the lack of manners, before."

He takes a sip of his drink.

"August," she replies. "I'm a little rusty myself. I haven't actually been around anyone in a couple of decades."

He waves a hand, "Don't worry on my account, then, and I won't worry on yours. August," he considers the name, "Augustus, the title and the emperor. Or the English month?"

"I've always assumed the month. But I never knew my parents, so their logic behind my name has always alluded me." She considers him a little more. "You're not from my Earth then? I was wondering whether you were some witch sent to evaluate myself and the others for potential release."

"Well I'm not a witch, but I might be willing to release you. But no, I don't think I'm from your Earth, so I suppose it'd be less a release and more a resettlement." At least he has experience with those.

"...you don't know me. Nerissa and Noah are likely to try and kill you, or attempt to manipulate you. We were imprisoned for a reason."

He smirks, leaning back in his chair, "I didn't say anything about them, did I? I'd need to get to know them a little before I made any offers." He leans in again, "You haven't tried to kill me yet - are you going the manipulation route?"

...August shakes her head. "I doubt that I could, even if I were willing to. I can sense some sort of power radiating from you. You're more powerful than me. I'm not even sure I could siphon you, or if I could, I'm not sure I could handle that sort of energy. At least, not without study and time."

"I sure wouldn't recommend it. We Eternals are built for cosmic energy. Humans... are not. But there are humans, where I come from. My people. I won't bring anyone among them who I can't stop from harming them."

Nods. "I don't have magic of my own, I can only siphon it from others. Magic from other witches is best, but vampires and werewolves have their own type of magical energy and I can siphon that too. I've also learned how to convert natural energy, from the earth and other living things, and use that. But it takes time and a lot of concentration. It's a genetic quirk that is rare in witches. Taboo. Siphons are shunned from society. Not accepted into covens. I was lucky that the headmaster of the magical school I attend has two daughters that are also siphons, so he was sympathetic and let me enroll."

He considers her, "Normally you have control of it? You lost control because you were trying to drain - Noah, was it? To protect those humans."

"Yes. I can also siphon from humans. Very small amounts. But I had prepared to take from Noah, enough to knock him out, so when I touched the human..." August looks away. "Taking someones life, even unintentionally... I'm not going to do it again."

"...Yeah, I think I'd feel comfortable letting you into my world." His voice is noticeably gentler than it was a moment ago. It firms up some, though, when he adds, "Not so sure about your friends, though."

"We haven't been friends for a long time. But I'm not sure if I can just leave them." She looks up at him. "Will you tell me about yourself; about your world?"

"...only fair," he agrees.

He sips his drink as he considers where to start.

"My Earth is, let's say about four hundred years behind yours. It was the 1530s last I was paying any attention to the Gregorian calendar. Several human generations ago. My people have made their home deep in the forests at the heart of this continent, to the east of what was once Tawantinsuyu." He pauses, lips pursing, "They were calling it 'Peru', last I heard of it."

...nod. "I traveled the area around fifteen years ago. It's beautiful. Though perhaps very different to what you're used to. Canada is much further north." She pauses and shakes her head. "I was being stalked by some carnivore when I was traveling there. It killed me a couple of times. Ate me too. I'd forgotten about that."

"Mm," is a smile inappropriate here? Oh well. "It's a dangerous land, to wander about alone in. Particularly the part we live in. We're quite cut off from the outside, and we prefer it that way."

"It sounds nice. Isolated, but among community?"

"Yes. Peace and harmony, and safety, is worth the isolation. And there's little worth leaving over. The diseases the Spanish brought with them brought empires to their knees, and then the Spanish cut their bellies and their throats. It's chaos and horror out there."

August considers this. "I've been vaccinated against a number of diseases that would be present in the sixteenth century... and if I haven't... I could probably head back into my world and get them and bring them back with me and to your world."

"...appreciate it, but you mentioned a blizzard?"

"Usually I just keep walking through it, dying and waking up continuously. It would take me a while to find someplace with proper transportation. Weeks, maybe."

He hums, "Will this place last that long? Will you be able to find it again? It wasn't in the woods last time I came through this area."

"I think you know about the same as me. Shall we ask?"

He looks over at the bar, "She seems happy to explain," he agrees.

Over to the bar they go. August takes her empty glass with her and places it on the bar's surface.

"Hello, again. Did you hear our conversation?"

The glass vanishes.

I did not, says a napkin she produces for them, How can I help you?

"We were talking about my possible migration to Druig's world. But beforehand I'd like to retrieve some things from my world. Would I be able to leave Milliways and return in a few weeks? Possibly a month or more."

I'm afraid I can't guarantee Milliways will return for you if you leave. Once you step outside the door you came in through and close it behind you, the link to Milliways will vanish. Many who find themselves here only do so once.

...hm. August touches the napkin carefully and considers the words.

"Can I use magic inside Milliways? I have a few summoning spells I could cast, to gather the things I need."

So long as it is non-violent, and will not cause alterations to the structure of the taproom, you may perform any magic you like.

"You mentioned an outside, earlier. I could do it there? I'd also need to gather energy... would I be able to siphon the natural energy from the earth - or whatever equivalent you have here?"

I should think so! The door to the backyard is at the end of the hall to your right. Please be aware that it is winter out there as well, and that the prohibition on violence only extends throughout the first floor inside the building.

Druig is reading over her shoulder, "There's an outside to this place? Not the forest where I came in, if it's winter. Interesting." He steps back, "If you need it, we can see if you can handle cosmic energy," he offers, "But maybe let's leave that as a last resort." 

August looks up at him. "I can feel the energy radiating from you. Normally I can't sense energy unless I'm very familiar with a person, or I'm touching them. Last resort sounds good."

He smiles down at her, "Let's go have a look, then."

The hallway leading to the outside door is just over there.

She's not blushing. Nope. August follows him towards the door, and then outside. Hopefully it's able to distract him from her face doing the not-blushing thing?

Either he doesn't notice or he's feeling merciful - he doesn't mention it.

He leads the way down the hall, the surcoat of his strange black and red armor flaring behind him as he walks.

And then- outside.

It's snowing, lightly. It's the kind of snow that produces large snowflakes, so you can see the spokes and branches as they fall to your shoulders and mittens and nose, perfect, individual, natural works of art. The snow has piled up across the landscape before them, from the snowdrifts surrounding a court mostly cleared just in front of the door, to the pristine sledding territory of the hill leading down to a frozen lake in the distance - frozen aside from one strip of shore further along the lake, where summer seems to have kept a foothold in Milliways backyard.

Around the clear area of lakeshore-hillside-courtyard is thick tree cover. From the hilltop where they stand they can see little but frosted pine from horizon to horizon, with a backdrop of looming snow-tipped mountains, their height difficult to discern.

Druig actually has to stop a moment just outside the threshold, readjusting to the sight of all this... white.

It's beautiful.

"And here I thought I'd never appreciate snow again."

"Really? It's so beautiful," he reaches out to catch a snowflake on the tip of one of his fingers, adjusting his body temperature there to preserve it long enough to get a good look.

"The first handful of times I ran into a snow storm and died of hypothermia made it lose it's luster, a little," she says, smiling. "But I can appreciate this."

"Right," he draws out, ending with a little laugh. "That's a fair point. Still, yes," he looks up, dropping his hand and letting it return to normal, "There's no danger in this weather. It's barely below freezing."

"My coat is up to the task," she says, nodding. "Also, layers. So many layers."

She looks around, looking for a place to sit. She'll need contact with the ground. Someplace to dig her fingers into the dirt and snow.

The treeline isn't very far away. Druig follows her searching gaze and gestures towards the incongruously sandy beach, though, "If you take energy from life, would it be better to investigate that?"

She considers it and starts walking over. "It is a little harder to get energy from the earth in the winter," she nods. "Though not impossible."

"Makes sense," he nods, moving into step with her down the hill, "It fights all the harder when it will need it for the spring."

They crunch through snow for a while, down the hill to the frozen lake. The shoreline is snow-covered, and Druig finds a nice heavy rock to toss at the ice as they pass, investigating its thickness. You only have to fall through ice once in the middle of a fight before you learn better.

"You could skate on that," he comments, though he continues around the edge rather than trying. "Do you know skating?"

"Not recently, but yeah. It's a popular pastime, especially in countries where it snows. It's an Olympic sport."

His eyebrows bounce up, "The Olympics?" He laughs, "Haven't heard that in a while. That was us, you know. A race held in," his voice skips a beat, before recovering, "In Makkari's honour. They renamed the village after our home." His enthusiasm subsides some at the end.

She notes his tone and lets it pass, not wanting to pry. "The first modern games, as I know it, started at the end of the 19th century. If the history textbook I read in school was right."

"They stopped holding them in the Roman Empire sometime when we weren't paying attention to that area," he looks off at the mountains just visible over the treetops, "We were in... The far southern hemisphere, at the time. Skating as an Olympic sport, though? Do they hold it somewhere cold, or does technology advance to allow it somewhere warm?"

"Both. Every year it's held somewhere different. 2024 was held in Paris, and 2020's was in Tokyo. I think skating is usually held indoors, regardless of where it is. Just because of climate control."

"Hm." He rolls his shoulders, "It's a better use for inventiveness than weapons," he decides after a moment.

"They're pretty set for weapons, unfortunately. The twentieth century was big on that point." And on that topic. Beach?

Beach! Which distracts him from asking after those weapons, which they should probably both be grateful for.

It's very definitely summer in this little pocket! They pass through a zone of swiftly warming air until they reach the balmy weather typical of a nice day on the coast in midsummer, calling to mind parasols on the beach and cool drinks in the shade. Warm clothes are definitely not necessary here.

It's not just the temperature, either. Summery greenery blossoms along the edge of the sand, a riot of bright flowers against a backdrop of greens and blues. 

Oh. So much better. August immediately sheds her two outer layers and pulls off her boots with a sigh.

Druig glances at her outfit change and- shrugs.

His armour melts away to reveal a more casual outfit.

"Temperature doesn't really affect us," he comments.

"Unfortunately for me..." she starts, and doesn't really feel the need to finish.

She flops down onto the sand and pulls up her jeans to her knees, then shifts closer to the tide. How's the water?

Warm! Cooler than she is, of course, and cooler than the air, but not by that much.

Druig sits on his heels a few feet away from her.

"Been years since I've been somewhere warm." She wiggles her toes in the water. "Almost forgot what it felt like."

He leans forward to dip his fingers in the lake, streaming them side-to-side through the water, "You'll have more than enough of it soon."

"What sorts of resources do you need? I was thinking of summoning a ton of vaccines. Maybe a generator... though I can use magic to keep everything from dying. But a power generator would probably be better, since we can learn to replicate it and it won't rely totally on me and my magic."

He shifts on his feet, and after a moment drops down onto the sand.

"With actual guided development..." He trails off, frowning to himself. "I can prevent them from turning technology to weapons," he assures himself. "A shield against disease would be worth it."

He looks back to her, "Bring what you think you need. I don't know what your humans have developed in the past four hundred years to give suggestions."

August hms. "Vaccines and antibiotics... the process of canning and preserving food. I'm not a very big science person, unfortunately. My expertise is in magic. I do have my grimoire. I've been building and collecting spells over the past forty years...." she reaches over to her bag though and pulls out her laptop. "I wonder if Milliways has wifi."

The backyard doesn't, at least.

Druig looks at the screen over her shoulder.

"Interesting interface. When was this invented?"

August pauses and hands the laptop over to him.

"I think the process started over two hundred years ago? But a computer like this, ones that weren't huge and were practical for personal use.... I think the 1970s. They've come a long way since then. This is a 2024 model."

He takes it carefully, inspecting the screen and the keyboard and the mousepad, using the latter briefly to control the cursor on the former.

"What do you use to power it? When you're not using your magic."

"I have a solar powered charger."

She reaches into her bag again - and this time pulls out a fairly large panel. Just a little too big, such as that it shouldn't have fit in the bag. She unfolds it and lies it down on the sand a good distance from the water.

He runs his fingers over it carefully.

"I'm not... Phastos is the one who would understand this. Technology isn't exactly my area."

He pulls his fingers away.

"Sunlight?"

"Yeah. Got this from a military base. I needed it to be portable, light and only take up a bit of room. I can only stretch the dimensions inside my pack a bit without a steady source of magic."

"Hmm... Maybe..." He flexes his fingers, and a drop of gold metal forms over the back of his hand, expanding out to form a skeletal gauntlet. He shows it to her.

"Subspace pocket. We all have them. I couldn't tell you how they're made, but if some of the things you fetch are large I can fold them in."

She reaches out to touch it - before stopping just before and just hovering.

"How large?"

He frowns, "Hmm..." he looks around, spotting a large rock up the beach a ways, which looks to be about half her size. "I could fold that, assuming it isn't some kind of super-dense exotic material. Anything heavier would take adjustments I... don't know how to do. Mass is more a problem than size."

...hm. "Magic could make them lighter. But I don't know how that would interact with subspace. Are you willing to test that?"

"Hm... Carefully," he agrees. "If this thing breaks I'd have to do a lot of sucking up to get it fixed."