Unexpected

Reveire...

Virginia awoke to her name being called, and opened her eyes slowly. She then immediately bolted upright when she saw her surroundings. She had no idea how she'd gotten wherever she was and she could feel herself beginning to panic as she looked around. She was in some sort of tunnel; but the walls and ceiling were not made from stone or wood. They looked almost alive. The ceiling and floor were both squishy and moist, as were the walls. But the walls also had something different. There were dark blue vine-type things running through them and pulsing slightly, standing out vividly against the pinks and reds of everything else, and a faint white glow emanated from everywhere and nowhere.

But one of the things that she found the most disturbing was a loud, thrumming noise that was so low and deep that everything rumbled with it. The blue vines' pulsing matched the eerie drum-like sound perfectly and she had a sudden, strong desire to touch the strangely beautiful vines. Barely thinking, she reached out a hand only to have it snatched backwards. She screamed, spinning around with her free fist lifted, before she saw two things at once that brought her memory rushing back. A glowing purple cuff around her wrist and unmistakable mercury eyes. Said mercury eyes were looking at her with concern and seemed much more like they usually did than they had before in the common room.

"Do not touch the walls, ma soleil." Draco said, his grip on her hand lessening a bit. ((my sun))

"What happened?" Virginia asked as he helped her to her feet.

"An untrained mind can't make the jump and stay conscious." He replied as he watched her take a few experimental steps on the flexible floor. "Welcome to Reverie."

"I was hoping my first trip here would be under better circumstances." She murmured. Then louder, "I don't know why I wanted to touch the wall so badly. What is this place?"

"A healing road tuned specifically into Blaise through his blood. The walls represent his flesh and the beating his heart, but it's the veins that you have to watch out for." He said and she took a step back. Veins. Not vines. Oh gods.

"Why is that?" She questioned after a moment.

"They'll suck you into one or more of his memories." Draco responded as he began leading them down the passageway. "And, at best, it would only slow us down. But we can't afford even that this time."

"I thought you said he would stay in a suspended state until we either stopped the poison or failed?" Virginia asked, the worry once more beginning to eat at her insides.

"He will." Draco said, something dark flickering in his silver eyes. "But the longer he stays that way, the less chance there is that he'll fully recover." Virginia said nothing, allowing that to sink in.

"Alright, so we have to hurry. Where are we going?" She asked, and Draco figured there was no harm in explaining a few things while they were walking.

"To find the right poison path. Normally, a healer brings a locator charm with them, but my nose works just as well."

"You can smell it?"

"I've known the scent of Whomping Willow sap my entire life. My mother didn't want me having any preventable accidents, no matter how unlikely. The path will smell like the poison. Once you've become an Animagus, you should be able to do much the same."

"My senses must seem pretty pathetic to you." Virginia said morosely, still slightly miffed that she hadn't gotten to start the Animagus training yet. It was one of the things she was the most excited about learning.

"I find nothing about you pathetic, Virginia." Draco replied seriously, shooting her a knowing, exasperated look. He'd heard her complain about little else over the last few weeks.