If You're Going Through Hell
A/N: Hi everyone! So, I took a bit of a break from this story to work on my Les Miserables story, but I'm back now. I'll probably alternate back and forth between the two periodically. A special thank you to MarkK1Johnson for your review on the last chapter! Reviews, comments, favorites, follows are all very appreciated and part of the motivation behind me finding the time to continue writing this crazy story. Hope you all enjoy this next installment!
Chapter 15: Paradise Lost
"Do you actually have a plan here, Stiles, or are you literally making this up as you go along?" Derek called out as he ran to catch up with the young man quickly heading back to the werewolf siblings.
"I do have a plan. Two, actually," Stiles replied, catching a couple of the people following him off guard. "Plan A is we tell them about what actually happened, remind them of their deaths and their connections to the pack, and hope that will bring them out of the hold this island has on them."
"And what's plan B?" Isaac asked, his eyes alight with curiosity as he caught up to his packmate.
"Scott uses his alpha werewolf claws to force the right memories to surface and we hope that joining minds doesn't affect him or cause any problems," Stiles said with a grimace.
"Yeah, my vote is for plan A," Scott said, also catching up as Stiles and the others slowed down and approached the lounging werewolves.
"Hey, did you guys find the refreshment stand?" Brett asked, opening his eyes to glance at them briefly as they rejoined him.
"No, but we found Mrs. Yukimura," Stiles answered, drawing attention to the older woman.
"That's cool too I suppose," Brett said, shrugging his shoulders as he sat up, noticing the serious expressions on all of their faces. "Why do I get the feeling you've got bad news?" Lori's attention was also drawn in at this point, and she mirrored her brother's actions.
"Because…we've got some bad news," Stiles said with another grimace before glancing over at Scott.
"What do you guys remember about the fight with Monroe?" Scott asked, taking the lead in the discussion.
"Not a lot, to be honest," Lori answered for the both of them. "Monroe was trying to hunt down any Supernatural creatures she could find. But we stopped her, right?"
"No, we didn't," Scott said, wincing at the thought.
"Is that why you're here? Do you want our help fighting her?" Brett asked. As he did so, the sky grew slightly darker. It went largely unnoticed by all but Stiles.
"Yes, sort of," Stiles interjected. "We need your help to defeat her, but there are a couple of problems we have to take care of first."
"Ok, what would that be?" Lori asked.
"Well…the big one is that you're dead. Actually, all of us are," Stiles replied. "But we're working on changing that." Brett and Lori both stared at him for a moment in disbelief, before Brett finally collapsed into laughter while his sister clearly tried to prevent herself from doing the same.
"We're…all…dead," Brett said between laughs, struggling to get the words out. "We can't be dead! I'm pretty sure I would remember if I died."
"Think back," Scott jumped in. "You were in the woods, and Monroe shot you with a wolfsbane arrow." The laughter faded away as Brett listened to Scott, closing his eyes as he thought. The sky grew slightly darker again, this time noticed by most of the Pack.
"I…remember that…I was being chased. I got shot. I had to get the arrow out…But then I kept running, and I left clues for Lori to find me," Brett said slowly, eyes still closed as he concentrated on finding the memories. Lori nodded along in agreement next to him. "But…I couldn't have died, Liam showed up and helped us to escape." The sky brightened once more, as though the sun had come back out from behind a cloud, much to the others chagrin.
"Brett," Stiles said, gaining the other's attention as he switched tactics, "I want you to listen to my heartbeat while I tell you this, so you know it's the truth. We…are…all…dead." Brett scrunched his nose up in concentration as he listened, or tried to listen. His eyes popped open suddenly and the sky darkened once more.
"You don't have a heartbeat," he said incredulously, a look of fear on his face. "How is that possible? Only well trained werewolves should have the ability to mask their heartbeat."
"There's only one explanation," Stiles answered gravely. "And you know what it is." Brett looked near panicking as he turned, wide-eyed, to each of the other people present, trying to listen for their heartbeats but unable to find any. Finally, he turned to Lori, who had tears glistening in her eyes.
"You don't have one either," she said as she drew him in close to herself in a tight hug. As the two siblings clung to one another, the sky faded the rest of the way to the drab gray of Limbo, the island and its vegetation fading into rock walls and outcroppings. Bloodstained clothes formed on the two wolves as they began to pull apart.
"I still…I don't remember what happened. How did we die?" Brett asked, turning to face Scott once again.
"We were down in the storm drains under the city, trying to find you," he answered carefully, eyes darting back to the manhole cover above the tunnel that had led them to this place. "I got injured, and Liam and Lori went on ahead. We didn't realize it was all a trap until it was too late, and you both were hit by a truck when you climbed out of the drains."
"Oh…I'm sorry," Brett finally replied after a tense moment of silence. "I shouldn't have put you guys in danger, especially you." This last part was directed at his sister, who simply shook her head.
"If you're in danger, then so am I. We're in this together, no matter what," she said, staring at him with a fierce determination in her eyes.
"So, what now?" Brett asked as he turned to take in the change in their surroundings with a forlorn expression on his face. Scott, Stiles, and Derek quickly filled them, and Noshiko, in on their plans for finding and bringing the Pack back to life.
"Do we count in that? I mean, we were part of Satomi's pack, not yours," Lori asked when they were finished, glancing back and forth between the various people present.
"I think so," Stiles answered as several pairs of eyes automatically turned to him anyway. "We've already got markers set up for you both in the real world. I don't know all the ins and outs of how this works, but I'm reasonably confident that friends of the Pack, or allies, can be included. But its ultimately up to you guys, we won't force you to go if you don't want to risk it, and I don't know what will happen if we try it and something goes wrong."
"I think…we would like to be a part of your Pack, officially," Brett answered for the both of them, "and help you take down Monroe once and for all. I know Satomi would understand."
"Yeah…we actually ran into her a little while ago," Stiles said with an air of nonchalance, grinning at the surprised expressions on both the siblings and also Isaac and Noshiko. "She seemed pretty set on getting revenge on the people who murdered her pack."
"That is very surprising," Noshiko said, speaking for the first time since the group had rejoined the siblings. "Satomi was always very careful and strove for nonviolence."
"I guess watching everyone you care about die and then dying yourself changes things," Stiles replied with a shrug.
"What about you, Mrs. Yukimura? Will you join us too?" Scott asked carefully.
"I do not know how wise it would be for me to return to the land of the living," she answered, equally carefully. "But I will give it some thought. Since you are looking for your Pack, I assume that includes my Kira." She said this last part more as a question then a statement, and Scott immediately responded by nodding his head. "Then I will accompany you, as we stand a better chance of finding her and freeing her from the Skinwalkers together. However, I have one other task I must complete while I am here in Limbo as well."
"The unfinished business you mentioned earlier," Stiles interjected, his voice slightly higher pitched than usual and tinged with fear. She nodded at him with severity.
"The Oni and the Nogitsune," she said calmly, ignoring the shudders that went through most of the people present. "They will be here in Limbo somewhere too, and we will be drawn to one another because of our connection in life. I must finish what I started and send them from this realm."
"So its settled then," Stiles said, a false sense of cheerfulness trying to mask his real feelings. "All of us," he added with emphasis, making eye contact with each in turn, "will head out together, looking for our Pack members. And if we happen to run into Skinwalkers or Oni or…evil spirits…we'll fight them together. Agreed?" The looks he received were not unanimous. Nolan was the picture of confusion while Isaac and Scott both looked to be in physical pain. Brett and Lori both looked fearful, while Noshiko was stoic and set. Derek remained impassive, trying to hide his emotions, though Stiles could see the worry underneath the façade. They were all, however, in agreement with the idea, each nodding their head or in some other way showing that they were committed to this plan.
"Alright then," Scott said, taking charge once more, "let's go find our friends."
-o-
"There is so much stuff here. This is so wasteful," Corey muttered under his breath while he tried to climb over another pile of junk to get to one he had not yet gone through.
"Yeah, I agree. These hunters could definitely stand a few lessons in recycling," Mason replied from a corner of the closet where he was buried waist deep in the mess. "It's too bad we don't have one of the wolves with us. Then they could just locate Nolan's scent on something and we'd be out of here."
"Yeah, well, all the wolves we know are still dead at the moment, so no luck there," Corey said with a huff.
"I wonder if they've had any luck finding the rest of the Pack," Mason added as he stopped to catch his breath and survey his surroundings.
"I hope so. They need to hurry up and send some more people back to life so that they can handle the next mission that leads us to the trash heap in the middle of a hunter's outpost," Corey retorted, clearly frustrated.
"Cor, it's ok. Why don't you stop for a moment," Mason replied, keeping his voice calm and gentle.
"Yeah, alright," Corey said, a tone of defeat in his voice. He plopped down on a pile of clothes and watched as Mason returned to digging through several shelves of damaged weaponry and electronics. Becoming bored with that, he allowed his eyes to slowly scan over the rest of the cramped space. "Hey, Mason," he began, quietly but with excitement, "Is that…that's not Nolan's backpack is it?" He pointed at the article in question, not daring to get his hopes up.
"It certainly looks like it," Mason said, equally cautious. He clambered over the mounds of debris to reach it, pausing once he did so as though afraid to find out if it actually belonged to the young man in question or not. Taking a deep breath, he quickly grabbed the backpack and unzipped it, finding Nolan's lacrosse jersey and a couple of books inside. "It is! It's Nolan's! Corey, we've found it!" Mason turned excitedly towards his boyfriend.
"Shh, not so loud!" Corey hissed, gesturing wildly as he scrambled to reach Mason.
"Sorry," Mason said sheepishly, still grinning in spite of the reprimand.
"No worries, I'm excited too, but we still gotta make sure we get out of here without being caught," Corey said, an edge to his voice that grounded Mason back to reality.
"You're right. We've got what we came for, now let's get out of here," Mason finished, taking ahold of Corey's hand so that the chimera could plunge them both into invisibility once more. They plowed their way through the mounds of debris and through the door that led them back into the kitchen, pausing to listen for signs that the hunters had come back inside the tool shed. As far as the two could tell, they were still alone. "Hey Corey," Mason began, eyes scanning over the kitchen.
"What?" Corey whispered, much more nervously.
"While we're here, maybe we should see if they have any extra supplies. If the entire Pack are all coming back to life, we're going to need more food and stuff than just what's there in the clearing," Mason continued, lowering his voice to the point that Corey would need his supernatural hearing to listen.
"I suppose that's a good idea, but won't the hunters get suspicious?" Corey asked.
"We'll be careful not to take too much, and try not to leave any gaps in the pantry shelves," Mason replied, already dragging his boyfriend over towards the nearest cupboard. Corey didn't respond, instead simply allowing himself to be tugged forwards and holding open Nolan's backpack as Mason quickly filled it full of canned goods and other assorted items that he figured the hunters wouldn't miss for awhile. They had just finished filling the backpack and zipping it back up when they were stopped dead in their tracks.
"I swear, there's something going on here that ain't right," a man said from the room with the computer monitors and lockers.
"I don't disagree," another man said, calmer than the first, "but surely there must be a logical explanation for what just happened."
"A logical explanation? Renfield's grenades just somehow blow a couple o' craters outside the camp while he's sittin' there listenin' to that stupid gadget of his. We're lucky we weren't all blown to kingdom come! So, you tell me, what's the logical explanation in that?" the first man retorted. Corey and Mason stared at one another in horror as they slowly crept closer to the door.
"I'm not sure…yet," the second man answered, voice still calm and almost contemplative. "There's more to this, I'm sure of it. There's something we're not seeing, or perhaps someone."
Corey gulped involuntarily at that pronouncement. "What are we going to do?" he whispered to Mason, eyes wide with fear.
"Don't panic, we'll think of something," Mason whispered back, hoping Corey wouldn't be able to hear the fear in his voice. They were trapped.
-o-
"So, I am a little curious Scott," Brett began cautiously as the group slowly made their way to what appeared to be an opening in the cave wall. Scott, Stiles, and Derek led the way, with Isaac and Nolan tucked closely behind them. Noshiko followed a couple of paces behind and to the right while Brett and Lori followed from the other side.
"Mmm, about what?" Scott asked, glancing over his shoulder to the taller wolf.
"How did Liam's lacrosse teammate become part of your pack?" Brett asked, shifting his gaze to rest on Nolan, who squirmed at having the spotlight put on him.
"That's a bit of a long story," Scott answered cautiously, also glancing at the boy in question.
"I used to work with Monroe," Nolan took over with a sigh, staring at the ground as they continued walking, not daring to make eye contact with anyone. "I was convinced, like everyone else, that the supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills were trying to destroy us, and that we needed to fight back. And I was desperate to have someone, anyone, to just be my friend. I hurt a lot of people in the process too."
"That…doesn't answer my question," Brett eventually said when it seemed like Nolan was finished speaking.
Scott picked up telling the story with another quick glance at their youngest member. "What Nolan left out is that not all of that was his fault. There was another creature, called the Anuk-Ite, which had the power to cause the people around it to panic. It created a lot of the fear that Monroe and Gerard used to get people to join the hunters. Nolan eventually had a change of heart and helped us to defeat the Anuk-Ite. But we lost track of him not long after that."
"I ran away and tried to hide. It didn't matter much, not long afterwards Monroe's hunters found me and killed me," Nolan finished.
"And then we found him here, or he found us I suppose," Stiles chipped in, much more energetically than the others. "And we decided that he's too adorable to leave all by his lonesome, so now he's one of us. Officially and everything."
"Works for me," Brett said, chuckling slightly at Stiles' description and the blush that appeared on Nolan's cheeks immediately afterwards. They fell back into silence after that as they reached the opening in the rock wall.
"That is very dark," Lori observed as they peered inside.
"And it looks kind of narrow," Isaac added, nervously shuffling closer to Stiles.
"I don't think we have much of a choice though guys, it's the only way out of here that I can see," Scott finished, making eye contact with each of them in turn.
"I can give us some light, if that's what you are all concerned about," Mrs. Yukimura said with a sigh as she stepped forward. She withdrew her sword, rapidly saying a few words in Japanese as she did so, before immediately being enveloped with a bright yellow glow. The group all gasped, but she merely rolled her eyes at them. "I am a celestial kitsune. Creating light is what I do. Now, if you are finished, let's go." She quickly turned and began heading into the tunnel, not waiting for a response. Scott followed almost immediately, leaving the rest little choice but to follow.
The tunnel they entered was winding and narrow. The Pack was soon reduced to walking single file, Noshiko leading the way with Stiles bringing up the rear. Derek found himself sandwiched between Isaac and Stiles, which he took comfort in, clasping Isaac on the shoulder as Stiles held his hand from behind. The group walked for quite some time before Noshiko stopped and called out from the front. "We have reached a dead end, the tunnel does not continue," she said calmly, though with obvious frustration.
"Try walking through the wall," Stiles called out from the rear. "They aren't always solid." He received no response, but a moment later the tunnel was plunged in absolute darkness. "I guess that means it worked," he said, trying to alleviate the sudden tension in his friends.
"Alright, everyone else, let's go through too," Scott called back. A round of affirmatives echoed behind him. The Pack pushed forward, until finally Isaac, Derek, and Stiles pressed through the seemingly solid wall together. They found themselves in a large, circular room with several doors dotted along the walls. A few of the Pack members shared nervous glances with one another because it looked eerily similar to the room at the top of Isaac's basement stairs where they met the Pixie.
"Greetings, weary travelers," a low voice said from a spot near the floor. They were all startled and quickly formed up close to one another for protection. The voice, which belonged to a small, weird looking creature that had appeared in the center of the room, continued on in a bored drawl as though not noticing the chaos it had caused. "And welcome to the Portcullis of Purgatorium."
"Who…who are you?" Stiles asked, recovering first and stepping forward slightly.
"I am Awarnach the Dwarf, keeper of the Portcullis of Purgatorium," the creature answered. It was even shorter than the Pixie had been, with skin a dull gray that blended into the color of the cave walls. It wore equally drab shirt and pants that were the color of the dirt floor. The creature looked completely unremarkable and blended into the room enough that he was difficult to see even when staring directly at him.
"And, what exactly is this…Portcullis?" Derek asked, the next one of the group to have recovered his voice.
"The Portcullis of Purgatorium is an ancient and mystical portion of the Underworld," Awarnach answered as though reciting a speech he had given countless times before. "It chooses travelers to make itself known to in order to aid them on their quest, whatever that may be. Before you are a series of doors. Each door is a portal to another point in the Underworld, presumably where someone or something that you are looking for can be found."
"Really? These doors can take us wherever we want to go?" Scott interjected, stepping forward to join Stiles with a look of excitement on his face.
"Yes and no," Awarnach said, a tinge of annoyance in his voice. "The Portcullis does not take people anywhere they want. It can see what it is you are looking for, and it can take you to the place you need to be to find it. But it will not do so lightly. You must pass the Portcullis' tests if you wish to accept its aid on your journey."
"What's the test?" Scott asked, enthusiasm fading away.
"Each door you wish to enter will be locked with a clue. If you can figure out the clue, it will tell you who or what lies beyond the door, and who within your party must be the one to open it. The correct person must call out the name of the person or object you seek when opening the door. Choose wisely, because if the wrong person opens the door, or if you call out the wrong name when you do so, you will be led, not to that which you seek, but to the fiery heart of the Underworld, from which there can be no escape."
"That…is a lot to take in," Scott replied, sharing a look with Derek and Stiles.
"We are looking for some friends of ours," Stiles said, taking charge once more. "If I understood you correctly, these doors can take us to them, as long as we can figure out which one of us is supposed to open them. Correct?"
"Yes, young traveler, that is correct," Awarnach answered, his bored tone returning.
"What if we are unable to figure out who the correct person is to open the door?" Stiles asked.
"Then I suggest you do nothing, as only certain destruction awaits those who fail the test," Awarnach answered again, though with the first signs of excitement in his voice.
"Is it possible to just leave the Portcullis and return to seeking our friends out on our own?" Derek prodded, trying to assess all the variables in their new predicament.
"No," Awarnach replied with finality. "The Portcullis is a wise and sentient force. It has seen your desperation and wishes to aid you on your quest, and thus it has chosen to appear to you. It does not do this without purpose, and therefore its gift of assistance is not one you can reject, however much you may think you wish to do so. You will not be able to progress from this room apart from the ways in which the Portcullis provides for you."
"And those would be the doors with riddles that might lead us to our friends if we can figure out the clues, but could just as easily lead to our destruction" Stiles said, a note of sarcasm in his voice. Awarnach simply nodded in reply. "Wonderful, this should be loads of fun," he said, turning towards his friends.
"What do you think we should do?" Scott asked, also turning towards their gathered Packmates and forming a tight circle.
"This dwarf guy looks pretty small and weak, we can take him no problem, maybe get some better answers that way," Brett said, staring at the diminutive creature in the center of the room.
"I don't think that's a good idea. My demon isn't worried about him the way it was with the Pixie we met earlier, but its been my experience so far that its not a good idea to upset the creatures who run things in Limbo if you can avoid it," Stiles interjected. Noting the looks the siblings and Noshiko gave him, Stiles quickly filled them in on what had happened earlier.
"Ok, so we don't attack him. Does that mean we have to play his game?" Derek asked.
"I don't see an alternative option available to us," Noshiko answered grimly, straightening as she did so.
"I think we should at least try it, for now that seems to be our best bet. If we decide we can't figure out the riddle, then we can try to come up with a new plan for what to do instead," Scott finished, also straightening and turning back to the dwarf. The others nodded in agreement, forming a close semi-circle. "Alright, we're ready. What's the first riddle?" Scott asked. The dwarf's eyes lit up as he led them to the door directly across from them.