It was cold. A breeze flowed over Aquarius, chilling her bare shins and mostly exposed stomach. Rocks dug into her back, placing her spine in an oddly contorted position and making indentations in her flesh. Moss tickled her cheek. The smell of greenery was in the air, mingling with the stench of something rotting. A frog croaked somewhere nearby.

Aquarius noted all of that before opening her eyes. It told her a lot. For one, she was powered up. For another, she was outside, possibly in a park. For a third, she had passed out somehow, though that much was obvious without taking stock of her surroundings.

Taking a deep breath, she sat up and tilted her head from one side to the other, trying to work out the kink in her neck. Several stretches and back-bends later, she finally decided to open her eyes. Once she was fully awake, she was sure that whatever was out there, it wouldn't be terribly surprising.

She was half right, at least.

The trees crowded around her, at first giving the impression that she was in a park. But Destiny City Park wasn't that well forested, and was much better maintained. Aquarius was not a native of the city, but she couldn't think of any other major parks- and it would have to be a major park, or she would be able to see past the trees. There weren't any forests either. What was going on?

Standing up, Aquarius continued to stretch as she looked around. There was a path, which was promising. There were rocks and trees and fallen logs. She couldn't see any wildlife, but she continued to hear it in the form of twigs cracking, grass rustling, and the occasional ribbit.

Then she looked up, and she forgot about the frogs, or lack thereof. Blood, screamed her brain, painting the walls and the ceiling, spilling from the still warm bodies quickly growing cold-

Aquarius blinked, and the blood changed to sky. An ominous red sky, darker than she felt it should be, with no sun to be seen. No moon, no stars, lacking the comfort that her native sky provided. But still sky, nothing more, nothing less.

Realizing she had stopped breathing, Aquarius inhaled deeply. She had to think, and think fast. Her life quite possibly depended on it. First, before she started to speculate, she had to consider the facts. It was not a very long list, and the lack of information discouraged her slightly, but it was not enough to stop her.

Fact One: She was Aquarius, when she was certain she hadn't been before. Fact Two: The last thing she remembered was riding the bus downtown from the hospital. Fact Three: Wherever she was, it wasn't the bus. Or Destiny City, to the best of her knowledge.

Aquarius closed her eyes and focused, but could feel none of her teammates nearby. Or any Senshi. Or Negaversers, which was a small blessing. She couldn't feel anything at all, other than the wind on her face and a stone poking her through the thin sole of her shoe. Fact Four: She was alone, wherever she was.

Facts found, she set to theorizing. Aquarius preferred theories to facts most of the time. Facts could be misleading. With theories, you always knew that things were bound to change, and could be ready for it. She was ready, or at least as ready as she could be under the circumstances. But ready for what?

Was she on another planet with an unusual atmosphere?
Was she in a malfunctioning holographic projection?
Was she under the influence of a chemical substance?

There were too many ideas, and not enough answers. Finding herself longing for facts, Aquarius sighed. She would get nowhere until she took a better survey of the area. It was time to get moving and see exactly what was waiting for her around the bend.

Gathering a few rocks from the side of the road, Aquarius piled four into a small, makeshift pyramid. Hopefully it would keep her from getting lost, but Aquarius wasn't holding her breath on that one. She had a knack for getting lost. Usually she didn't mind, but getting lost in a place like this would probably prove fatal.

"Stop that," she told herself sternly. "There's a path. And besides, you don't know where you are now, so you're already lost. It can't get much worse."

She cursed inwardly started walking, keeping to one side of the road. It was best to have plenty of options, just in case. She had just remembered Fact Five: anytime a situation 'can't get much worse,' it always did. "But how much worse? Or does asking that make it worse still?"

Aquarius walked faster, even though she didn't know where she was going. She wanted to know as much as possible before things got worse.