A Stroll Through Purgatory

[Jon Wall]

((ooc: Set on June 16th. Introduction thread for Jon, reserved mainly now for circus workers and customers, particularly Morgan and Facilier.))

Jon was not a very religious man. He'd come to a state of mind in his life where he cared little for it, and believed that it cared little for him as well. He attempted to force himself through the sacred procedures and prayers of Christianity, but as it came to very little fruition in his miserable life, he often gave up. And, as far as Jon could tell, God had obviously given up hope on him.

In other words, he was going to Hell. Or, as the current turn of events seemed to detail, he was already there.

The only problem with this assumption was that there was very little evidence of this place truly being Hell, other than the fact that it looked very dismal most of the time. It certainly wasn't Heaven anyway.

Maybe it's that Catholic shit they talk about...purgatory, or whatever they call it. Jon shook his head as he curious walked the streets of the town. For the most part, the town looked fairly barren and dull. The circus that waited for most of the other curious people here was clearly the main source of entertainment, but Jon wasn't headed there just yet. He intended to get a better look of the place before making any decisions.

Perhaps, if he was lucky, he might happen to find another lonely soul in his position. And if he was very, very lucky, he just might happen to find the particular soul he was searching for.

But, Jon was not exactly what one would call a "lucky man" most of the time.

[Morgan Le Fay]

Morgan walked down the street flyers posting flyers advertising the circus. This weekend was a half off ticket sell. The ringmaster felt that if they lowered their prices then maybe they would get more customers and have to stop depending so much on GeneCo and other sponsers for money in order to keep the place afloat.

There were a few times that Morgan thought about leaving, going back home to England, but then she recalled that not only was the England she knew dead and gone forever, but that she had no real place to go. So she stayed.
"Evening," She said to an average looking man, trying to smile but not quite being able to get it to look natural. Her accent thicker than she would've liked.
"Are you at all intrested in visiting the circus at all, sir?"

[Jon Wall]

Jon was a bit startled by the woman, and blinked, jarred from his thoughts as he met her gaze. The woman was a bit...different looking, but most of the people around here seemed to be. No one truly looked as though they came from the same place, or even the same time period for some, but as Jon was still struggling with the belief that this was hell, he hadn't thought too much of it.

He accent sounded European...British? She seemed to be covering it up a bit, whatever it was. "Oh...good evening, ma'am," Jon responded, with a bit of a sheepish smile. No sense in being impolite, Hell or not.

Glancing at the flyer she'd been posting up, he looked curiously at the worded print: The Dark Woods Circus. He'd seen the circus before, and had initially been repulsed by what he'd seen...and yet, oddly intrigued. He'd just now been contemplating visiting again, after all. At least it would be some form of human contact.

"Ah, I'd thought about it, yes," Jon shrugged, acting casual despite his inner uncertainty about both the woman and the attraction. He'd become very good at that, after spending so much time on his own. "Tell me, you work there, right? Could you, uh...tell me a little bit about the circus?" Jon questioned, feigning innocent curiosity with a raised eyebrow. "I'm afraid I don't get out much...I've only visited once, and I don't know much outside of what I managed to see the one time."

[Morgan Le Fay]

"Our acts are like nothing you'll find anywhere else, one of a kind." Morgan said.
"Creatures and monsters from all over the world brought to the circus to preform for the public. For a price you can even have your own private show with the act of your choice. There's plenty of acts to choose from. A vampire woman, a nazi dinosaur, a unicorn, saytrs, a winged lioness and others."

Morgan handed him a flyer that went into more detail.
"The more...adult shows are at night. Where the more violent and risque attractions are put out on display in their tents. It costs more than the daytime shows, but well worth the price and for a few dollars more you can get a pass to all night time and day time shows for a small fee. Incase you have any children at home that might want to see the attractions as well."

[Jon Wall]

Jon eyed the poster with a raised eyebrow. Well...perhaps there was more interest to this circus than he'd originally thought. Nazi dinosaur...what the hell, he couldn't help but think to himself, but kept his slight skepticism and sarcasm to himself. Still, it sounded promising, if it was anything like what the flyer advertised.

Adult shows, hm? He couldn't help but smirk a little at that. "Well...they've certainly improved a bit since jugglers and fire eaters, haven't they?" He chuckled, simply attempting to politely acknowledge his attention to her descriptions. "Geez..."

However, at the suggestion of having children to see the show, his expression hardened a bit, a small sting biting into him. That hit rather close to home, unfortunately...not that it was Morgan's fault, of course. He gave the woman a small, faded smile and a nod. "I'll definitely stop on by at some point...sounds interesting. Say, if you don't mind my asking...just how are you connected with the circus? Just a worker, or do you do an act as well?"

[Morgan Le Fay]

"I work there, yes. Guarding the attractions and keeping them in line" Morgana said with a small nod. "I suppose you could say I'm an attraction as well. I read fortunes for a few coins. All types tea leaves, dream interpretation, tarot cards, i ching coins."
All of which were true, but one of the real reasons Morgan was hired was for her magic spells that she could give away to ensure luck, health, finding true love. And even those that would cause the death and harm to those it was cast against...as well as seances.
Morgan gave a small smile to the man.
"I can give you a small taste of my reading now if you want. All you have to do is give me your palm. Left one for the past and the right one for your future."

[Jon Wall]

Under normal circumstances, Jon might have scoffed, or given a disbelieving chuckle. He'd never believed in any of that silly little charm stuff, or palm reading, or whatever the woman was attempting to sell. Where he had come from, that stuff was nothing more than silly superstition, and all the good fortunes in the world wouldn't put food on your table or medicine in your cabinet.

But then again, these were far from normal circumstances. Perhaps the woman could tell him something about himself...where he was, why he was here. If not, then maybe a few nice words about his future would put him in a better mood; and, it certainly couldn't get worse, so all in all, it wouldn't hurt.

But the skepticism in his mind made him put out his left hand first. Just to test the woman. He was a little worried about what she might see, but he quickly told himself that she probably knew nothing about what she was doing and was just trying to make a quick buck, or send him down towards their little circus. Either way, he'd live...or, whatever he was doing here.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt..."

[Morgan Le Fay]

Morgan took Jons hand in her own. The past was always easier to read, for starters it was set in stone. Very little (aside from revelations about ones past and time travel) could alter it. Morgan looked at his palm for several minutes.

"Your family life is...troubled. And odd." She said looking carefully at the lines unsure if she got what she was seeing right. "Not close to either of your parents. But very, very, very close to a sibling. Younger I'm guessing. And, if I'm not mistaken, they're more than just a sibling to you. Your love line intersects with your family line. Indicating incest."
She looked back at his hand.
"This relationship has caused just as much pain and torment as pleasure and happiness. Because this woman was your sister your child didn't live very long. And you were both to afraid to try for another. So you felt you had to do some...rather horrible things to not only hide your relationship, but to try and build a family for yourselves."

[Jon Wall]

Jon's jaw nearly dropped at the accurateness of her readings. He'd expected something cheap and vague, like the normal "psychic" routine that people tried to pull, saying things about your life that could apply to anyone. He'd ever expected it to be so...exact.

And if he'd known just how much the woman could know just by looking at his hand, then he would never have even shown his palm to her in the first place. She's essentially figured out his whole life story in a manner of seconds. Chances are she could probably figure out every little secret detail he'd strove to hide from others, if she didn't know them all already.

He jerked his hand away, staring at his own palm with a shaky breath and apprehensive stare. He looked at the woman dead in the eye, angry that she could see through him, angry that such a seemingly impossible feat had somehow become possible in this hellish place.

"Alright then. Answer me this," he said lividly, reaching his breaking point. "Where...the hell am I? Heaven? Hell? Or is this somewhere in between?" He gave a bitter laugh, which quickly broke into an exasperated sound of defeat. "Nothing is making sense anymore, as if it ever did. Somehow I just...woke up in this place...without her..." he shook his head, angry now, as if it were Morgan who'd sent him here to torment him. "Why the fuck is this happening to me?!"

[Morgan Le Fay]

"Why does anything happen to anyone?" Morgan said cocking an eyebrow and looking him in the eyes un-afraid of his glare. "Fate. Luck, good and bad, coincidence, karma, who knows? Your here so accept it. As for where this is..." She gave a small smile and a shake of her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"Depends on who you ask. Some might call it purgatory, some might call it another dimension, I call it The Vale. It's a between place. And that is all I can tell you, the rest you'll have to figure out for yourself."