Isabeau blinked a few times, regaining her focus. She had slipped into a daze ... or at least she thought. Though it had felt like an eternity since her body was put into the ground. Everything after that was a blur, until now. [i]How long have I been out?[/i] she thought. A quick turn of her head to assess her location had her doubled over in pain. Events flashed through her mind, memories, her body ached all over as she began to relive what had happened that last night.  

[hider=Flashback]
She had been quietly working to uncover a traitor within their organization. Their numbers had been rapidly diminishing the past few months, and with no explanation.  Sure it was natural for her brethren to take extended leave, to be gone for months at at time, but something didn't feel right. No ... there was nothing right about what was going on. 

Walking through the gardens always calmed her mind. But she couldn't shake the unsettling feeling she had that night. She felt someone behind her. She reached for the dagger at her waist and quickly pivoted. No one was there. But when she turned once more to continue through the gardens,  she saw him. 

Some might ponder that it was who he was to her that she let her guard down in that moment. To others, the sheer thought of being betrayed by the one you love that shattered her resolve within those final moments of their battle. Whatever the case, it all ended with his dagger through her chest.
[/hider]

She shook her head, letting the memories pass from her sight. When she opened her eyes once more, she stared up an endless sea of white. She had been sitting in a large field of white roses, stretched beyond what her eyes could see, blending seamlessly into a dingy grey sky, dusted with dingy white clouds. She chuckled softly and thought to herself [i]Is this hell, or did I find my way to some other forgotten place among the stars?[/i]

A strange sound had tore her from her thoughts. It was so foreign at first, until it began to seep into her very core. She turned to see what had been making the sound, and was startled to see a woman sitting right next to her. [i]Where in this hell did she come from?![/i] She cocked her head to the side, examining the strange woman. Her dress blended in with the never ending sea of roses. A thought quickly crossed her mind and she was grateful for the lack of aroma from the field.  for if they -had- smelled, it would truly be hell she was sitting in. Either that or her own funeral service. As her gaze moved up, she noticed the woman's blood soaked hands cradling her face. Though they muffled her sobbing,  the noise seemed to be everywhere now, growing louder and more intense.

A small chuckle escaped her, slowly growing louder and fuller. She couldn't help herself.  If there was any meaning to this, oh the irony behind it all. She buried her face in the soft petals as she laid down in the field of flowers, her laugh melting into bitter tears. She laid there sobbing,  unconsolable, her cries matching the woman next to her until she fell asleep.  

Her eyes flew open in a panic, she grasped at her chest and tried desperately to catch her breath. She must've had had a nightmare for her heart was .... her body froze, her gaze darted around her, the tension in her hand released as she laid her palm flat on her chest. It was beating! Racing rather, and the more she thought on it, the faster it beat. She was surrounded completely by darkness and had very little space to move around in. [i]Am I trapped in my own grave? This is impossible,  I must be dreaming or ...[/i] she lifted her tunic slightly, ran her fingers over her wounds, searching for the scar. There it was! But this couldn't be real, could it? Bringing her fists to the wood above her head, she pounded them against the hard surface until she felt it splinter and crack under the pressure of her knuckles. Dirt started to the crumble in as she made her way through.  Soon even the moonlight poured into her little ditch and she was free. Free. That word seemed so odd to her. It took her dying just to achieve it. But how? She brushed the dirt from her clothes, and noticed the blood on her hands. "I really am alive, aren't I" she said, reveling at the tint of blood that sparkled in the moonlight. "But how?" And with that she made her way out of the alcove under the tree, she trudged through the woods until she found a road. If she truly was alive, there were so many things she wanted to do. But first on her list,  she needed to find out what happened to her and why she found herself alive and here.