A.N. General disclaimer for all things copyright. I do not own the characters, setting, or lore utilized in the creation of this piece. My work is inspired by the creative thought of the original authors

Her sobs ebbed away, eyes burning with sorrow as tears dotted the ground. She knew not how long she lay there, mourning the loss of everything she had known. She whimpered as she brought up a hand, wiping away the fluids that had been brought forth. She noticed numbly that her clothes, a brown sweatshirt with a green t-shirt and a pair of old jeans, were clean, free from the filth that she had been covered in. Looking over herself she discovered the same was true for her body, the only evidence of distress being her recent cry.

Of course, why should she have wounds? She was de-

She halted that line of thinking instantly. She couldn't think about that right now, her emotions too fragile. Her cry had been cathartic, releasing a weight from her shoulders that she hadn't noticed until now, but she could barely handle what was happening to her.

Simple things, simple thoughts. Those were safe and comfortable. Focusing on what was happening to her in the here in now.

So noticed idly that she wasn't all that hungry or thirsty, though that didn't really mean anything since she'd had lunch not too long ago...maybe. She really had no idea how long she had been asleep, in this field of white. It could have been hours, maybe even minutes.

Years could have passed, everything that she had known changing in the eye blink that she had been unconscious. People moving through the lives, causing more suffering, inflicting so much harm tha-

Stop. Don't think about that. Stay simple, stay here.

She wiped her face again, eyes prickling from unshed tears, and sat up, her dark curls catching on some of the flowers. Taking a moment to free herself, she looked around, taking in the sanctuary she was in.

She noticed the tombstones immediately. They were everywhere, just on the edge of the field, half buried in mounds of earth covered by moss and lichen. The stones differed in sizes, ranging from small monuments to large pieces half her height. They were inter spaced and faded, the text unrecognizable from the deteriorated stone. She squinted her eyes, straining to make out the words of a nearby tombstone, and was somewhat startled to find that it was the fault of the material and not her lack of glasses that had failed her.

In fact, she could see just fine, something that should not be happening. She touched her face, an act of disbelief, as she took in the field with a new light. It made sense really. She would not need glasses where she was, after all.

She clenched a fist as her breath hitched, struggling to command her emotions. She needed to keep herself distracted.

Carefully she stood, her body lacking the pains it had displayed earlier, and started at the strangest sight she had ever seen.

Columns, great in stature and large in girth, filled the horizon. They rose from a fog filled landscape, a dense mist that sight could not penetrate, and continued skyward, piercing the clouds and beyond. They were set apart at varying distances, some closer to her while many more lay further away. They stood solidly, made of some kind of dark material she could not identify, and dominated the terrain as far as the eye could see.

She idly noticed her jaw had fallen open but she could not care, could not think past the sight she was seeing. It was so alien, so different from what she had ever seen. There was not a place on Earth, on either Bet or Alph, that had these characteristics. What were those things? Did they have some importance? Why were they here? What purpose did they serve.

A chill ran down her spine at the remembrance of a television show she had seen once upon a time, depicting a story where the world was nothing but a large stage for a grand human experiment.

What if the sky had a roof?

She shook her head, dismissing those thoughts. They would not serve her right now. She needed to figure out what was here, not get lost in a past that might not matter anymore.

That thought alone prompted more head shaking.