Welcome to Purgatory

What a crazy world we live in. Everything is kind of messy for the moment, so bear with us here.

Axel Edgewood

The Darkness had been calming. It was something welcoming. It numbed the pain. It took the thoughts, the guilt...it took everything away. It was welcome too. Imagine being underwater. The quiet peacefulness of it was what the Darkness was like. The world didn't exist. Nothing existed, and it was a blessing.  

The cold ground was pressed against the boy's cheek as he slowly peered opened his chocolate colored eyes. Small green blades of grass obscured his vision. Disoriented, it took him a moment before he realized that he was lying on the ground. With a small grunt, the brown haired boy pushed himself into a sitting position.

*Where am I?* He thought to himself, looking around the wooded area. Well, half-wooded area. He had been lying at the base of a forest. However, the trees abruptly cut off, revealing a small town at the bottom of the hill he sat upon. Squinting his eyes, he looked up at the sky, noting the dark coloring and half circled orb. It was sunset. *How did I get here?* He thought to himself, slowly getting to his feet. He raked his brain, only to find a clean slate. Panic started settling in. He couldn't remember anything except for his name, Axel Steven Edgewood, and his age, 18. Breathing quickly, Axel paced, trying to calm himself down. He heard of this...somehow. It was amnesia, he believed. *How can I remember that, but not anything about myself?!* He thought, frustrated, then shook his head. Now wasn't the time to get aggravated. Looking towards the town, he let out a sigh. Maybe someone there could tell him. Axel started off towards it...then heard a twig snap behind him, along with the down of snarling. Slowly, he turned around and looked in horror as a...creature stalked out.  It was all black. Its skin was reflective and shiny, like the scales of a snake. However, it had a body of a lion, and the head of a dog. Its jaws were layered with uneven teeth. A forked, snake-like tongue slithered out between its lips. Its tail was like a giant mace, thin until the end, which was a spiked ball. The claws resembled large daggers, and looked deadly. The thing stunk like rotten meat, and Axel gave a small gag and staggered back.

"What the f**k is that?"  He said to himself under his breath. The thing's pure red eyes locked on him and it snarled then started sprinting towards him. Axel cussed loudly and backed up quickly, only to topple down to the ground. He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the sharp pain of the monster's teeth or claws. Instead, he heard the sound of a shriek that sounded like a woman's scream and a lion's roar mixed together. Slowly, he opened his eyes, seeing a girl with black hair standing in front of him, holding a sword in front of her. The creature was backing away, a large gash across its face that was pouring a sickly green liquid he assumed was its blood. "What...?"  Axel whispered. Hearing his voice, the girl looked over her shoulder at him and grinned.  

"What's up, newbie? Welcome to Purgatory!" She said with an odd cheerfulness.  

Nathaniel Erit Jackson

His blue eyes looked lazily up at the orange, blue, and purple sky above him. It was something that he was used to. He'd been here in purgatory for nearly four years now, this same sight had greeted him ever since the first evening he'd woken up here. He often didn't know how he'd survived this long with the demons constantly on the prowl. He was just a crazy confident young adult that didn't even really know how to fight, nor was he an amazingly fast runner. Right then, for example, he was laying down on the forest floor with his hands behind his head, acting completely oblivious to the world around him other than the multi-colored sky. Somehow, he'd survived.

A scream sounded from somewhere deeper in the forest, and the sound made Nathaniel let out an exasperated sigh. It was probably just another newbie. He'd noticed a whole flood of them had come in within the past week, tons of them already demonized. With a low groan he rolled himself over and pushed himself onto his feet. Fine, he didn't really enjoy the newbies getting into trouble every single night, but hey, it gave him something else to do other than just sit and rack his brain about why the hell he was in purgatory anyway. Most of his memories still hadn't come back, and it'd already been four years for crying out loud! Maybe they needed to be triggered somehow? The thought made him grimace. He had no idea how to trigger any memories.

Stopping his train of thought, he started his run toward the scream he'd heard, and within a couple minutes he played witness to a younger girl running around wild with a crazed demon on her heel. The girl was screaming her head off, and if it wasn't for the demon Nathaniel would've just left her there to scream on her own. Grumbling to himself, he picked up a rock and proceeded to chuck it at the demon. If he had anything going for him in this world, it was his on-point aim. The demon, which kind of looked like some sort of unnamed dinosaur mixed with a chicken and kangaroo, stopped in its tracks and slowly turned toward him. Nathaniel waved at it as if it was a long-lost friend. Enraged, the creature charged for him. He swiftly avoided the creature, which rammed past him and into a tree.

"Come on!" Nathan called to the girl with the flaming red hair. Apparently, she had tripped sometime after he'd thrown the rock. Grabbing her arm and dragging her to her feet, he held an iron-lock grip on her wrist and pulled her back the way he'd come in a run. "Hurry now! Follow me and I'll take you to the school! It should be relatively safe there!" he called behind him as he let go of her arm and sped toward the edge of the woods. He knew the area quite well.

Lucina “Luce” Walsh

Saving the newbie had really been quite fun. She got to use her knew sword skills, which was always fun. Having lived in Purgatory for a year and a half, she still barely knew all of her past. She knew that she had once worked on old cars and had illegally street raced. She also knew that her mom had been an alcoholic, her dad had been gone all the time for work and prostitutes, and the two of them screamed at each other whenever their eyes met. Really, that was about it.

Over the course of her years living here, she learned that her shot with a gun was impressive, and she almost always hit her targets. However, Luce decided to learn how to properly use a sword. The weapon shop here was weird, but it was no matter. The demon before her was an ugly little pest, and its shriek was devastating on the ears. However, seeing the Newbie's astounded and disturbed face made it all worth it. This was the first wave of Newbies for a while. The demon shook its head then snarled, snapping its jaws viciously. "I suggest you move back, Newbie. This can get a little..dangerous." Luce said with a smile.

"A Newbie? What the hell are you talking about?! Purgatory...what's going on?!" He demanded, getting to his feet. She shifted her blue eyes to him and rolled them. She forgot how dramatic they were.

"Just step back. All will be made clear soon," Luce said calmly, pushing him back roughly as the demon charged, sending him back to the ground. She brandished the blade and quickly moved it up as the monster slashed its claws at her. Her sword cleanly cut through the demon's large clawed paw. It howled, staggering back, but soon fell, since its foot had been sliced off. Luce sauntered over and shoved the tip of her sword into its head. It let out a scream then exploded into misty shadows, leaving a puddle of sickly green blood. Giving a disgusted look at the sticky, green substance that now covered the originally white surface of her sword. Luce jogged back over to the boy and held her hand out for him to take. "It's not really safe out here. There are more that wander the streets at night. You better follow me if you want to survive," she advised him.

The boy stared at her, obviously freaking out, but managed to keep his cool and grabbed her hand. She hoisted him to his feet.

"I'm Lucina, but call me Luce," she said.

"Axel," he muttered.

"Well, I'm glad I made it in time to save you, Axel. Now follow me," she ordered, turning her back to him and walking towards the safe building. The safe building was the school, but it was the most secure place in the whole town, so the people here turned it into a base. Hearing a girl scream abruptly, Lucina looked towards the sound. "Hmmm...you up for some more action?" Luce asked Axel with a smile.

"Not really," Axel said uncomfortably and the black haired girl smirked and snatched his hand.

"Great! Let's go!" she beamed, sprinting towards the scream and dragging the protesting boy behind her. Demons were starting to come out, but no more screams echoed out. Perhaps Axel and that girl that screamed were the only ones tonight? The two arrived in the clearing in time to see Nathaniel running with an unfamiliar girl. "Nathaniel! Wait up! Take this boy with you! I'm going to take care of the demons coming up!" she shouted to him, shoving Axel forwards.

He staggered, almost falling to the ground once again. "Would you stop that?" he huffed and Lucina laughed.

"I'm saving your life, kid. Just deal with it for now. Go meet up with Nathaniel, or risk dying again. I can't promise to keep you safe," she warned him before looking forward, seeing the disturbing shadowy forms of demons starting to appear. Luce found it odd, but she craved these dangerous, risky situations. It led her to believe she did risky things like this back when she was alive, but she had no way of knowing. Axel hadn't needed to be told twice. The boy ran towards Nathaniel and the new girl.

Nathaniel Erit Jackson

At the sounds of Lucina's voice, he couldn't help but grin and quicken his pace. The girl behind him yelled out in protest and, rolling his eyes in annoyance, he reached behind him and grabbed her hand again, making her keep pace with him.

"Sure thing, Luce!" Nathan called back, eyeing the second newbie as he hesitantly ran to them. He looked strong. After an introduction to their way of life here in purgatory, the boy would probably be able to hold his own quite well. This girl, on the other hand...not so much. "Follow me!" Nathaniel said to the boy as he got close enough to them to hear. With that he adjusted his path so they were heading in the straight direction of the school safe house. The building had been fortified for holding off demons, just like the others, but the materials were stronger and newer.

"Lucina!" Nathaniel called suddenly as he remembered something, pushing the newbie girl ahead of him as an order to tell her to keep running. Hopefully, the boy followed her. "Lucina!" Nathan yelled again, hoping she could hear him clearly, "Don't forget to get back before the school gates close!" After another second of standing there, he swiftly turned around and ran after the newbies, easily catching up with them. Taking the lead again, he lead them through the gates of the school before allowing them to slow down.

"This is the school, our safe house in the town. You'll notice everyone from the town, new and old, are all gathered here for the night." He told the two as they entered the building. "Generally, they separate the kids from the adults, but most of our rules here are very lax. Now, I'm going back to the gates to wait for Lucina. They close in a half hour. If I'm not back by then it's to be assumed I went after her. The deal for you two is don't leave the school, alright?" The girl nodded, and Nathaniel figured if anything, that she would at least keep the other boy out of trouble. With a stiff nod, he headed off back to the gates.

Lucina "Luce" Walsh

Hearing the retreating footsteps of the newbie behind her, Luce relaxed, relieved he had listened to her advice and got out. He would have been dead quickly.  

"Thanks, Nathan!" She called back, smiling as she heard his response. The dinosaur/chicken demon raced out, snarling as it charged at her. Lucina sidestepped, ducking low to avoid the jaws from snapping around her shoulder and lashed the sword out, slicing the demon's left leg off. It screeched and toppled over, writhing on the ground and corrupting the ground with its green blood. Hearing Nathan, she glanced up and gave a thumbs up.  "Gotcha!" She called before returning to the task at hand.

Luce went to finish it off when another demon stalked out. This one was hyena like, but its jaws unhinged like a snake's. The tongue was two barbed tentacles. She made a face of disgust. This was a  nasty one. The two tongues lashed out at her at once. Luce parried a few attacks with her sword, but it didn't harm the tongue since the barbs and the metal simply connected. However, one wrapped around her right hand. The girl yelped in pain as the barbs sunk deeply into her skin. The demon started tugging her by her right wrist towards its mouth. 

*I am not being eaten by a demon. No way.* Luce thought to herself, slashing the sword towards the tentacle tongue around her wrist. The other one got in the way, blocking her attack. She grit her teeth, her mind racing on what to do while she continued fending the other tongue off from wrapping around her left wrist or arm.

Axel Edgewood

After what the girl called Lucina said, he didn't take much convincing to rush towards the boy she had called Nathaniel and a girl who was beside him. By the looks of it, she looked terrified. Axel was as well, he just didn't express it. This whole situation was weird and probably unnatural. Then again, he probably wouldn't know if it was natural or not due to his amnesia.  

As he came up, his chocolate eyes study the girl. Did she have amnesia as well? Axel didn't have much time to consider this until the boy named Nathaniel said for the two of them to follow. Not going to disobey the people who were saving his life from those things, he ran after him towards a large building that resembled the large mansion like academy.  

Before the three made it, the boy called Luce's name, then pushed the girl ahead. Taking it as a sign to continue running, Axel followed beside the girl. "Do you have any idea what is going on here?" He asked her, looking over hopefully. Being dragged into such a situation wasn't exactly the best thing that had ever happened to him..well....he wouldn't know that, but he decided that for  now, it was going to be.

Before long, Nathaniel returned, taking the lead and led them beyond sturdy looking gates to the mansion like school. Axel turned his eyes to him as he spoke. The man was going out after Luce? Lucina was sitting back and fighting those monsters, and he didn't seem to have a weapon. Was he just going to open and close the gate?  "Alright." Axel said instead, giving a nod to confirm he wouldn't leave the school, considering what was coming out.

Author's Note

Written in a roleplay type of style, there'll be overlap. It's also in the process of editing.

Reviews

[Bryan Webb]

This was a fun read, with a different layout that reminds me of my earlier writing days when I roleplayed in middle and high school. I would've liked to have seen a more detailed description of the second dinosaur/chicken demon, but that's neither here nor there. Excited to read the next chapters and understand this world of Purgatory (I'm all for adaptations of demons, and the Inferno) and your characters. (Special nod to you for Axel and his amnesia, I see what you did there and I'm a fan.)