self_inflictedexhile | watch_dogs / wynonna earp } { i been lost somewhere between heaven and hell

watch_dogs / wynonna earp } { i been lost somewhere between heaven and hell

[The fog has been rolling in for weeks now. Curling up out of the trees, messing with people's minds, and while Waverly and Wynonna did go through a stretch of forgetting things, there's also things that she remembered too.

Things from somewhere else.

Things from Hell.

She doesn't know if Wynonna remembers, and she doesn't want to ask. She doesn't want to think that if for some reason she doesn't, her question is the thing that triggers the deluge of memories of the pain and suffering they spent there. So she keeps it to herself, toiling away with Jeremy and regular cases and hoping that one day, she'll be able to put it all behind them.

They get a call one day, about someone having been found in the fog. It's unsure how much of an affect it's had on him, but Jeremy manages to divert him back to Shorty's so they can get a better look at him. He doesn't have any ID, any phone, and he's definitely not one of the locals. But the moment they place him on the pool table to get a better look, Waverly almost drops the bottle of whiskey in her hand.]

Oh my god, Aiden.

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[Aiden turns as the doors swing open, shifting to face Wynonna. he doesn't stand, however, nor does he offer a hand -- instead he just hums]

I'm the guy. [a beat] Aiden Pearce.

[Waverly probably knows him well enough, at this point, that he's put on his metaphorical armor, afraid of getting his hopes up, getting hurt. better to play it like a hardass and see where this goes, first]

[Unfortunately for Aiden, there's no recognition. Whatever the fog did to Waverly, it didn't do to Wynonna. She just narrows her eyes at Aiden and takes a step closer to inspect.

"So. How did you and Waverly meet exactly?"

Waverly gives Aiden a sympathetic look over Wynonna's shoulder.]

He was in one of my correspondence courses. He finally made it out to Purgatory to say hey in person.

[Wynonna squints before turning to face her sister. "By appearing in the middle of a field?"

Waverly shrugs.]

This is Purgatory. And our correspondence courses did involve dead languages that are usually used in spells and summonings ...

["Okay, good point."]

[to his credit, he manages to keep from pulling further into himself, mentally, at that lack of recognition. armor or no, it still stings]

Kinda wasn't expecting to end up here when I was in Chicago -- [and totally not Hell] -- but.

["Oh, Chicago. So you're not that far from home. We can put you in a truck and send you on your way."]

Wynonna!

[Waverly's tone is scolding.]

You can't just run my friends out of town.

[Wynonna makes a face. "We should at least see if he can get past the Triangle."

Waverly wants to facepalm. But she may look a smidge concerned, because if Aiden came from Hell, there might be some ... changes that could keep him in Purgatory.]

[Aiden recognizes that that's some kind of test, but he's not entirely sure how so. if it ever came up that revenants couldn't leave the Ghost River Triangle, he doesn't recall it -- it's not like that was a particularly important fact in Hell, after all]

[still, he catches that look on Waverly's face and it's another act of will to keep his frown from deepening]

Yeah, alright.

He just got here. Let me get him settled in, at least?

[Wynonna doesn't know why she's being judged when she feels she's asking the important questions of Waverly's mystery friend who just appeared out of nowhere. "Fine. Get him settled. I'll check in with you in a couple hours?"

Waverly nods, before gesturing towards the stairs.]

C'mon. Let me show you the room.

[AKA let her give you the information out of the earshot of Wynonna who will assume the worst.]

[to Wynonna, Aiden offers a muttered nice to meet you, then he's standing, gesturing Waverly on towards the stairs. he's very interested to see where this might be going. if nothing else, it'll keep him from having to dwell on the fact that Wynonna doesn't remember him. maybe]

[Waverly takes him all the way upstairs to the small, above-the-bar apartment, and once they're inside, she takes a deep breath.]

So. The Ghost River Triangle sort of has this barrier around it.

[Might as well get to the point.]

Humans and part-angels can pass through it just fine, but when Julian went through it he lost all his memories and forgot he was an angel, and demons ... well, let's just say they're highly discouraged from leaving the Ghost River Triangle.

[To the point where they might get more than a little burned.]

Have you noticed if any of your Hell changes hung around?

[well, that's fun]

[frowning outright now, Aiden glances down at his hands, fingers flexing reflexively. when he looks back at Waverly, he shakes his head faintly] None of the obvious ones.

[he doesn't have claws and fox eyes anymore, but he's not sure there's not something lingering. he feels like someone like him wouldn't have gotten out of Hell completely unscathed]

Think we oughta head down there before Wynonna and find out on our own?

[that way, they can figure out what they're going to tell her, if he can't leave]

Edited 2023-06-19 11:15 (UTC)

[She nods.]

Yeah, I think that's probably a good plan. It was made to keep the revenants in, but it didn't go away when the curse ended. So I don't know how it effects non-revenant monsters or demons.

And we don't know if I still count as either.

[has he mentioned he's not particularly hopeful this all isn't going to backfire on him somehow now?]

[that in mind, he sighs, before:] You got a car somewhere?

[best to get this over with]

Yep. Jeep's out front.

[And with that they will pile into Waverly's bright red Jeep and drive out to the outskirts of the Ghost River Triangle. It doesn't take them long for the town buildings to fall away - after that everything else is the woods shrouded in fog and the flat, empty midwestern plains of Montanda.]

[as they slow to a stop, Aiden gets out of the car. he takes a moment, looking around, and then with a glance back at her to make sure he's headed in the right direction, he starts forward, headed out of the Triangle]

[for a few seconds, it seems like everything's going to be alright, minus him looking a little silly, hand coming up like a man fumbling for a wall in the dark -- and really, that's sort of what's going on here, him expecting to hit some kind of physical barrier. for a few seconds, it seems like he's alright, and then he reaches not a wall but an invisible curtain of sorts. it makes the tips of his fingers tingle, then his hand cramp, then more, his nails twisting into the same long, black claws he had in Hell, rapid fire. he cries out then, snapping his hand back, and the pain starts to recede, the claws along with it, albeit much more slowly than they sprouted from his fingertips]

[still, it's not long before he's whole again, human again]

[still, that's not good]

Shit.

Are you okay?

[Like, physically speaking. She walks over to examine his hand gently, making sure that all the problems have faded.]

That is ... not good.

[physically, he looks okay again, now -- though there's a tingling in his fingertips and a weight in his chest that are harder to shake]

Wynonna's not gonna be happy.

[he's understandably more worried about getting shot in the head than the fact that he apparently can't leave, right now]

She'll get over it. She has demon friends; she's not allowed to judge.

[A beat.]

Not that you're a demon. At least ... not in the Triangle.

[Now she looks more curious.]

That's not a normal demon reaction. Usually it's a lot more burning flesh and smoking not-quite-dead corpses.

[he huffs out a humorless breath of a laugh]

Guess I should be glad I'm not on fire, then.

[that is a really, really cold comfort, right now, though]

Yeah.

[But also, agreed. She makes a face as she studies the invisible line between demon Aiden and normal Aiden.]

I'll have to do some research. Too bad the Iron Witch cut out of town.

[But hey, a problem to focus on. She loves having one of those.]

[Aiden sighs and mutters an apology, feeling a little like he's being a dick]

[it's understandable maybe, though. much as he was expecting something terrible to happen when he crossed the border, there was also something like hope there. no one hopes for something bad to happen, after all, and maybe, just maybe, since everything looked like it was normal, it would be. so much for that idea, and the idea that he's safe so long as he stays put really isn't helping. he's still the monster he fears]

[he'll try and get over that. again]

[he'll at least change the subject]

Who's the Iron Witch?

The Iron Witch used to be the local white witch of Purgatory. It used to be the local blacksmith, who was very cool, but she died in a witch fight. Then her sister inherited the title and got pissed about how her sister died and decided to take it out on Wynonna, but we worked that all out and she skipped town to go build a new life for herself.

[She sighs.]

She probably wouldn't come back just because I asked.

Gonna guess getting her in a Nudle Meet wouldn't help.

[he's going to be real confused when she tells him Nudle is Google here]

[but anyway]

[if they could at least get her on a video call, maybe they'd be able to bait her into coming back using him as the bait. shouldn't -- whatever the hell's going on with him be enough to pique her magical curiosity?]

[Yep, confusion incoming when she turns to him and frowns:]

Is that a restaurant?

[It sounds like a restaurant. Because she totally heard Nudle as "Noodle."]

[he blinks, confused now, himself]

It's a video chat app.

[Blink ... blink ...]

Oh, like Google Meet?

[They did not talk about computers enough in Hell.]

[ ... ]

What the Hell is Google?

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