[OPEN/EVENT] There was a face on a hoarding that someone had drawn on;

[vampdetective]

Who: Angel & you!
Where: Quor'toth.
When: 12/02 - 12/05
Rating: PG for now.
Summary: Until now, all Angel has known about Quor'toth has been secondhand. He had no idea that something could be even worse than what he'd imagined.
The Story:
a. settlement

[It doesn't take him long to find the first drawing after he wakes up. It had been on the wall nearest the front door of the hut he'd found himself in, the image itself presented like a crudely pieced-together shrine.

He doesn't have to go any further to know where he is, where they've all wound up. He doesn't have to seek out any locals and ask. The picture is enough to say it all, his stomach knotting as he finds himself unable to tear himself away from his son's image. It's been too long since he's seen Connor in person, years, and even then, their last meeting had been brief-- but he still saw his son's face almost every night, silently mourning all the ways he had failed him.

He'd let Connor be taken to this place. In the moment, it had seemed like the only way to save him. He hadn't had any other options, not if he wanted his son to live, but what Connor had suffered here-- it had broken him beyond repair. The life he'd led after Quor'toth could barely be be called living at all, until Angel had made a deal with the devil to fix it.

When he finally pulls himself away, Angel starts investigating the settlement as a whole, looking into hut after hut, feeling his chest grow tighter as he finds image after image of his son, some drawings more elaborate than others, but all of them unmistakably Connor. He knows he can't stay in the settlement for long, knows that he's going to have to explore beyond it, and he can't help but wonder if hoping to find Connor himself in this place is entirely in vain. This isn't the real Quor'toth, it's Wonderland toying with them, but Wonderland had done him small kindnesses before. Maybe it would do the same now.

He exhales, emerging from the sixth or seventh hut he'd chosen to rummage through. Before he goes anywhere, he needs to make sure that everyone else who'd woken up here was safe, and knew better than to wander beyond the settlement unprotected. After that, he needs to find Faith-- to hear what this place has to offer, because this has to be her memory. Given what he knows of Quor'toth, he'll want to be as prepared as possible before setting out.]

b. wilderness

[Nothing about Quor'toth's landscape is at all comforting. There are no portals to Quor'toth is the phrase that keeps echoing in his head, over and over as he presses onward. He's unarmed, but that doesn't matter. Angel himself is a weapon, and learning the truth of this place, of what his son had been forced to suffer, was far more important than the feeling of security a broadsword or an axe would have offered him.

There are no portals to Quor'toth, and for a very good reason. It's probably the most hellish of all the demon dimensions in this known plane of existence. The only way to Quor'toth is to rip right through the fabric of reality.

Connor had been strong enough to punch his way through, desperate enough to claw his way back to their world, and now Angel was beginning to fully understand why. He's prepared to fight and claw his own way through whatever demons he counters, prepared to do whatever it takes to understand this place-- and to take his anger out on it, that anger that he's been carrying for years, ever since he'd let his own son slip away from him.]

c. wildcard

[Whatever you like! Angel will mostly be outside of the settlement after the first day, though he may stop by occasionally just to make sure that people are staying safe. He's mostly likely to be found out hunting demons or scouring the landscape for any further trace of his son. If you want to plot something specific, feel free to PM me or PP necrofancy, otherwise leave a starter and I will match your format and play along!]

Comments

settlement

[sponsored]

[ she's been following angel; watching him push through the desperation. with every hut he checks, faith fights with whether to give in to her own desperation and hide. it wouldn't be hard; she remembers the red brimstone road to quor'toth.

but as he exits the seventh, faith emerges from the shade of the hut to shove this figurative dagger in a little deeper before hopefully pulling it out. ]

He's not gonna be here.

[vampdetective]

[It was telling, really, that he hadn't noticed her. Finely-honed as his senses were, he should have heard her a few huts ago, smelled her in his wake, but the struggle to keep desperation and panic from overtaking him had drowned out everything else. The only part of his surroundings that registered with him were the traces Connor had left behind.

He clenches his hands into white-knuckled fists at the sound of her voice, going rigid as he turns his head slowly in her direction.]

We can't know that for sure. I have to look.

[sponsored]

[ hope could help him keep it together for however long this takes. faith so often speaks with fists and curses because she knows it takes more courage and strength to be kind. so she forces herself not to yell. her voice is soft but firm: ]

Angel. [ faith sighs, and nods. ] I'll help you look.

[ because it's her fault they're here. and people are going to get hurt; hurt each other; be changed when the mansion remembers itself again. maybe angel doesn't have to be one of them. so faith moves to angel's side, ready to give him this thing he needs. to be the one next to him if he finally explodes, like before. ]

Place messes with you. You're gonna start to wanna pick a fight eventually.

[vampdetective]

[He softens, just a little. She's his family, but he's always surprised when Faith shows kindness or patience. There's pride there, too, even if he's too fixated on the current situation to show it just yet.

He looks down at her as she joins him, grateful, the faintest hint of a smile pulling at one side of his mouth before it vanishes again. It means the world to him that someone understands.]

If I start picking the wrong fights, I know I can count on you to intervene.

[He grimaces, looking towards the hut's exit.]

I have to look, because he never forgave me for not coming for him. I didn't look hard enough.

wilderness

[poppycock]

[ two vampire dads meet in a hell dimension-

klaus' interest in quor'toth has reached far and wide. not because he is particularly interested in its workings of course, but because he'd like to know how to survive it. he hardly needs weapons, but he has not left the settlement without since that first day; these creatures can be vicious and perhaps the additional implement of violence harkens back to his childhood.

he knows to be prepared.

anyhow, he couldn't very well skin tonight's dinner without a fine tool.

it's a bone. a razor-sharp fang, in point of fact. thank some higher power (or him; he's not picky) he had it, or perhaps he would have had to suffer an attack from hell's answer to a kangaroo. its teeth had found and scored his shoulder. with a roar of pain, he slices its face, unaware of his new company. ]

[vampdetective]

[YES THE TIME HAS COME

Somehow, Angel isn't surprised to find Klaus slicing into the local wildlife. Of course, he isn't one to talk, having quite literally fought his way tooth and nail through some of it on his own. He's close enough to put on a burst of inhuman speed and close the distance between them as the demonic creature reels backwards from the blow, and Angel grabs it from behind and snaps its neck to finish Klaus' work, his face shifting as he helps bring the beast to a swift but ugly end.

For a moment afterwards, there's a heavy silence. Angel has yet to encounter this particular Klaus, but there's history between them, even if Klaus won't remember it. He's not sure he would call them friends, but enemies doesn't sound quite right, either.]

You okay?

wow i can't believe i forgot about this, feel free to ignore adsf;

[poppycock]

[ klaus knows of angel, if not necessarily his face; camille has not been entirely reticent of what's happened in wonderland and in his previous self's past. (he's sure she's left some out, but not wholly this.)

klaus is unperturbed at the sudden company and the help. he leans back some, watches with interest as the man snaps the beast's neck and lets his own emerge in interesting disfigurement along the ridges of his brow.

the fangs are a conversation piece as well.

his shoulder has healed by the time the final bow has been dealt, but klaus glances at his ripped shirt and grimy skin, covered now in blood. ] I'll live. And you are?

Settlement

[doorkey]

[ Angel's not the only one noticing all the heroic depictions of Connor the Destroyer scattered throughout the settlement.

There's a young girl searching through the huts, probably already told to stay put by one of the adults, but clearly quite bored (or terribly anxious) just sitting in one place and listening to the hellscape hiss and gurgle and growl off in the distance.]

Yeesh, here he is again!

[ Coraline marvels to herself, nose wrinkled as she spots another stretched hide, painted with a now-familiar six-armed figure who appears to be ripping a giant worm in half with his bare hands. ]

Just like Hercules or something...

[vampdetective]

[Angel just so happens to be emerging from the back room of this particular hut as Coraline makes her observation aloud. He feels his jaw tighten. The analogy isn't a bad one-- to the natives here, that's what Connor must have been. A hero, and yet in his own world, he'd been set up to be the opposite.

He grimaces, taking a few steps until he comes to a stop beside her, looking back to the drawing he'd already become so familiar with.]

You'll probably see more. [A beat.] He's my son.

[doorkey]

[ Coraline's head whirls to attention, eyes widening as she does a double-take.] What?!

[ His son? She takes a good hard squint at the man, looking him up and down, before her hard-nosed pre-adolescent skepticism sets in. She's used to hearing people make up all kinds of crazy stuff, just to make her feel like an idiot for being so gullible.]

Your son? Really? [ She looks back at the crude painting, imitating his top set of arms with a little wiggle of his fingers. Jazz hands. ] But... how'd he get six arms?

wilderness

[madehervows]

[The first thing Regina had done was make sure Henry was safe and that he had people to protect him. It wasn't that she wanted to leave him, but she was getting restless and being around so many people, even if they weren't talking to her was getting under her skin.

She's more than capable of protecting herself -- even in a hell dimension like, or perhaps especially in a hell dimension like this -- so she sets out. Just for a walk and some space.

It's by a cave painting that she finds Angel -- surprised, perhaps, by the intense look on his face.]

You look like you're expecting it to come to life. [A beat.] Or perhaps like you want it to.

[vampdetective]

[He's regained enough of his composure to remaster his senses by the time Regina finds him, and though he hears her approach, he doesn't turn towards her until he hears the sound of her voice, his lips set into a hard line.]

Maybe.

[He's met this version of Connor before. Any of these drawings coming to life wouldn't end particularly well for him-- but he'd give anything to see his son again, all the same.]

Don't think there's a spell for that, though. Not one that would do me any good.

[madehervows]

[It doesn't take a genius to connect the dots -- some of them, at least. The significance of the drawing is lost to her, but the bigger picture?]

So this is from your world.

[No judgment, just confirming.]

Someone you know, then?

settlement

[persevere]

[Caroline has been mostly sticking to the settlement itself. She's not super keen on fighting a bunch of horrible monsters just for funsies, but at the same time, she feels like she has a better chance than most and should probably at least protect the place where there are freaking kids sleeping in the middle of this mess, so she sticks to the outskirts where she can actually help if there's an ambush or something.

After awhile, though, she's not just out here for those reasons. It's also because she's starting to get hungry, and hell dimension demon blood doesn't seem like something she should eat.

She's sitting on the ground near the outer ridge of the huts, her arms wrapped around her knees as she stares out into the horrible distance. The sound of footsteps alerts her to Angel's presence as he's leaving to head back out into the wilderness, and she gives him a half-hearted smile.

Caroline doesn't know him, but he seems like he's trying to help too. Being stuck here together gives a sense of camraderie regardless of actual friendship or not. Life or death situations tend to do that.]

[vampdetective]

[That split-second of eye-contact as she sends him a smile is enough to make Angel slow his pace, reconsider going out into the wilderness again just yet. He'd heard, briefly, that Caroline had returned to Wonderland-- but he had been especially poor company lately, and while this would have given him a second (really, third) chance at a first impression, he'd kept his distance from many of the Mystic Falls crew for the last couple of months.

He opts not to let on that he knows her just yet, instead offering a wry, weary smile in reply.]

Looks like Quor'toth might be starting to get to you, too. It's going around.

[persevere]

[She laughs, but it comes out slightly bitter and borderline tired.]

Well, it's basically Hell, right? I think that's enough to get to anyone, even me.

[Miss optimism is lacking a bit of her spark in all this horror.]

wilderness

[assembles]

[ This place is like nothing that Steve's ever seen, and for someone like him, that's really saying something.

Wonderland has transported them to some interesting and horrifying places in the past, but this is on a whole other level. The entire environment has been tailored to be hazardous, and the fact that it in some ways resembles the traditional image of what Hell is supposed to look like only adds to the bizarre nature of it.

Maybe if Steve were a little more clear-headed, he would have thought back to Faith's words about hell dimensions. About how they could influence the way you felt, about all the demons. But that conversation was months ago, and he's already feeling the effects of this place.

Right now, that mainly means that he's spoiling for a fight, which isn't the worst thing considering where they've found themselves. Normally he might have felt unprepared with no weapon to hold onto, but he doesn't even care at the moment, as he stalks through the morbid landscape with clenched fists and sharp eyes.

Eventually he crosses paths with someone else, someone who must also be from Wonderland given that he looks human. Steve halts and looks the guy up and down. Yeah, he's definitely familiar. He narrows his eyes. ] What are you doing out here?

[vampdetective]

[Angel is half turned away from Steve when he approaches, his long black coat covered in dust he's kicked up while making his way across the barren landscape. Heat means little to him, and the coat is about much armor as he needs, really, being what he is. He exhales, followed by a short but humorless chuckle, weary beyond words.]

I keep asking myself the same thing.

[He's searching, even though he knows he won't find what he's looking for. He won't find much of anything out here aside from demons, but a part of him feels like he still has to look. He has to, because Connor had always held it against him that he hadn't come for him. That he hadn't looked hard enough. Maybe coming to this place now was his penance, though the fact that it would only last a few days made it feel weak as a punishment.]

Someone has to get to know the area. It'll be a few days before Wonderland is back to the way it should be.

[assembles]

[ Steve is dressed much lighter in comparison, with only a tank top and a pair of sweatpants. It's always frustrating to come to in an event still wearing what you went to sleep in the night before, but then again, it sort of benefits him this time around. He's not sure how this guy is holding up with that heavy coat on; more power to him, really.

Someone has to get to know the area. That's true enough, and it also implies that this guy is as new to this as the rest of them. So much for getting additional intel, then. Still, Steve knows that he's probably better off not going this alone.

He eyes the stranger for a few seconds, then decides to just go for it. ] Are you gonna say no to some help?

[ The way he asks is defensive, because he's noticed how snappy people have been here, and he's felt some of the effects himself. He doesn't think it's just the heat getting to them, either. Something else must be going on here. ]

settlement

[krmvgivv]

Woah, who's the creepy god guy?

[Sup Angel, it's your other son. I mean your intern. Dipper's staying pretty close to the settlement. He's had enough run-ins with apocalypses to know that he's not letting his loved ones out of sight. But he's still exploring enough that he runs across Angel staring at one of the pictures.

Then he notices Angel's face and pauses, frowning.]

Angel? You okay?

[vampdetective]

Fine.

[His tone, however, is anything but. His expression is mostly blank, though his brows are drawn downwards, and he tears his gaze away from the drawing long enough to look Dipper over, appraising him and subtly searching for any sign of injury.]

I'm glad you're safe. You should stay close to the settlement while we're here. Some of what's out there-- even I don't want to run into it.

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper nods, shoving his hands into his vest pockets.]

Yeah, this is like Weirdmageddon all over again, except it's gonna be done pretty soon. I'm not planning on getting killed this event.

Wilderness

[littledhampir]

[It might have been wise for Rose to stick close to the settlement they'd made but sitting around and waiting for disaster to strike had never been her style. And it would strike, she was at least certain of that much. You couldn't take a vacation to Hell and expect everything to be easy.

It was in part why she'd ventured away from camp, armed with little more than a silver stake, that if she were being honest? She couldn't be sure was any more useful to her than a kitchen knife. There was a safety in being able to trust in the Moroi Magic that made Dhampir weapons more powerful but given her experience with the Cupboards of Wonderland? She'd retrieved enough silver platters of steaks to host ten barbecues for the residents of Wonderland before she'd gotten a weapon. For all she knew, she'd gotten herself a shiny paperweight and wouldn't know that until some hell beast was trying to rip out her throat.]

You usually wander around a hell dimension unarmed? [Something in her voice suggesting that Rose thinks this may be more evidence that Angel can't exactly be trusted.]

[vampdetective]

Don't think a weapon is going to do me much good here.

[He's not surprised to hear that she's wary of him, still. Their previous meeting had not gone well, and he'd done things during recent events that wouldn't exactly convince someone that he was trustworthy, if they ever found out. He grimaces, offering her a shrug.]

If I can't take it down myself, then it's probably not going down. None of the weapons here are what I'd choose for myself, anyway. You get attached to your old favorites.

[littledhampir]

[Her gaze travels down to the silver stake in her hand, it's familiar weight a comfort in an environment that was otherwise foreign. Given the way the cupboards worked back in Wonderland, she could have chosen almost anything to arm herself with but of course, she'd been determined to get herself a stake.]

I suppose. [You can't expect Rose to freely admit that she fully understands him now can you.]

But I don't agree with you about the rest. [This was more her style.] I've seen plenty of things that shouldn't go down get killed. Especially by people a lot slower and weaker than they are.

[And by see she means heard about but semantics.]