[center][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/336734823928299520/834994800880910341/janda-elegant-handwriting.png[/img][/center]

Josephine Hughes was no stranger to the cold. She had been raised in Minnesota, whose winters were always below freezing. She had even once nearly died to the cold in a lake on a terrible December day. As the memory crossed her mind, she shook it off, wishing to forget it as soon as she remembered it. Today was a [i]good[/i] day, a new beginning. There was no need to think of her end. Perhaps her familiarity with the cold was what made this so easy, she mused. Her climb up the mountain hadn’t been difficult so far… although it hadn’t been easy by any means. As she climbed further up, the air became thinner and the wind stronger. Almost as if it was trying to keep her out.

The wind raced towards her and her dog, Kevin, with a ferocity that could bend even the strongest of pine trees. Her blonde hair, mercifully, stayed in its bun against the blinding gales of wind. Her poor fuzzy scarf did not. [color=8f0898]“Damnit!”[/color] she yelled, and stomped her foot as her warmest scarf disappeared into the wind. There went any semblance of warmth for her neck. God, how she hated this mountain… Jo steeled herself against the wind and kept walking, Kevin by her side.

[color=DarkMagenta] “It will be alright. You will get a new scarf,”[/color] said the voice in her head. Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft.

Josephine jumped. She wasn’t sure she would ever get used to that. [color=8f0898][i]I know. I would really just like a new scarf before my neck freezes off.[/i][/color]

[color=DarkMagenta]“Then use your incantations, like I taught you.”[/color] 

[color=8f0898][i]Fine.[/i][/color] Jo took a breath of the searing air and began to mutter. [color=8f0898]“Dóse mou thermótita,”[/color] she whispered, over and over again, hand clutched around the bag of herbs in her pocket, until her eyes began to glow and a warm heat radiated from her core. She sighed with relief. That was lovely. Kevin the dog rubbed himself against her leg, clearly happy too. [color=8f0898]“Oh, that’s a good boy!”[/color]

They continued walking for an hour more, shuffling through the unrelenting snow and wind. For brief moments, Jo thought of home. She had left only a few days ago, courtesy of the voice in her head, and she had already begun to wonder if it was a mistake. After all, she was ascending a mountain a thousand miles away from home with a stray dog and a new voice in her head. Maybe she should be in the mental institution. Not on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. Could she even do this? 

Just as those morbid thoughts crossed her mind, a wall of white appeared in her vision. Jo gasped. Was that supposed to be the barrier? Kevin barked, and she shared the sentiment. It was a churning mass of wind and storm, grand in stature. She felt like an ant next to it, a particularly brave ant who had ventured from her anthill. Grimly, she set her jaw and went to find a tree to lean against to stare at the wall. She would rather wait until more people got here until she crossed herself. As selfish as it was, she didn’t want to find what was in there alone.