Chapter Text
Arthur couldn’t believe his god-damned luck.
They had actually managed to seal Scratch back into their own dimension! And it had actually worked!
Arthur had thrown the stone in and, while Scratch had become whole, it was also trapped on the other side of the portal.
Then, John and Arthur had started the third incantation to move the door away from wherever Scratch had come from.
And that’s when it had gone so horribly wrong.
They had miss timed one intonation, one syllable.
John had cursed.
At first Arthur had felt a pull, as though the tear in the universe had gently asked him to come closer.
The air itself felt thick like water, as though reality itself was bending in a tide.
Arthur could hear John trying to pull him into an argument over who’s fault it was for messing up the ritual, though it was distant over the air whipping about them.
What had started as a gentle tug soon became a force of nature and wave after wave kept pulling him closer to the tear.
He had been pulled into the center of the tear, like a leaf in a tidepool.
He could hear John panicking as they were pulled closer and closer to the heart of the maelstrom, any reply being whipped away by the wind before it could come to fruition.
As he hit the portal, his entire body lit up in white hot pain, as though he was being pulled apart and slowly put back together piece by piece.
Ar…!
A..hur!
Arthur!
Wake up!
Stop scre….. and sn.. .ut of it!
Arthur came back to himself kneeling on a dirt floor.
He was in agony, molten lava running through his veins, he could feel the red hot pulse as it traveled through body.
Distantly, he could hear someone screaming.
His ears rang like a bomb had gone off.
Had a bomb gone off? He couldn’t remember.
For t.. ..ve of g.. Art….! Stop s..….ng!
Arthur felt a hand- his left hand?- shaking his right shoulder violently.
Why was it doing that?
He was gently rocking back and forth.
He really wished whoever was making that awful keening would stop, it was so loud.
The lava had left his bones, cooling and solidifying, and now just his skin was on fire.
His clothing, his shoes, his hair, his skin, his hand, anything that touched his skin was burning, stinging, screaming pain into his nerves.
He desperately wanted to flay his skin off, just to stop the pain.
Maybe, with his skin gone, the pain would be gone.
The screaming was so close, like whoever it was had to be right next to him. Yelling into his ear. Please stop.
Arthur! Stop Screa….! We don’t know where we are! Someth… could hear you!
What? John? What was he saying?
Twinges were zinging up his muscles and fascia.
The pain in his skin began to ebb away, leaving him bone tired.
That wretched noise was hurting his ears…
God DAMN IT ARTHUR! SHUT UP!
Ah, the screaming was his own.
Slowly, he managed to get his voice under control. The terrible scream stopped. He could feel the tang of iron at the back of his throat. Was that blood?
Bloody hell! How long had he been screaming!
Coughing up a bit of blood, he gasped for air.
He managed to stop rocking, focusing on the air moving in and then out of his lungs. The overwhelming pain had passed leaving him achy and shaking.
Arthur?
He whispered “John?”
Arthur! Finally!
“John!” He wheezed in relief. “Where are we?”
I can’t tell, Arthur. We’re not in the barn anymore. After we trapped Scratch, Arthur, I think we were pulled into the portal.
“You mean we might..not even..be-”
-In our own reality? No, I don’t think so.
This looks like a really large basement. It has a dirt floor and stone walls, and a wooden staircase leading up. Turn around so I can check behind us, there’s an odd light to this room.
Oh Arthur! The rift! It’s still here! But it looks… wrong, more unstable.
Instead of one steady purple color, this side, it pulses and shifts in an oil slick of a rainbow. I think it might lead …to other …places.
I don’t think we should try to go back though it. Not without knowing there’s something tying it to our world.
“Yes, I would really rather not go through that much pain anytime soon, especially not without knowing where it leads.”
Arthur! said John with dread in his voice, Arthur, hiding in the darkness behind the portal, there’s a gigantic spider, it’s almost the size of th…
Arthur heard an arachnoid hissing noise coming from above him.
RUN ARTHUR! IT SEES US!! GO UP THE STAIRS QUICKLY!
Arthur pivoted dashing up the stairs with reckless abandon. His breath came in panicked gasps.
ARTHUR! TO THE RIGHT! THERE’S THE FRONT DOOR! HURRY! I THINK WE PISSED IT OFF!
Arthur heard the hissing coming up the stairs as he dashed to the right and started fumbling for the door.
No, to the left! The knob turns the other way, YES!
Arthur gets the lock and bursts out into the open air, slamming the door behind him.