Put on your pretty lies / You're in the city of wonder [[ Open ]]

[hatsandespresso]

Characters: Neal, anyone who wants to follow him, some unexpected guests
Time: After sunset, Tuesday
Location: Hard Rock Hotel to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and then Undertown
Content: As if disappearing hotels weren't enough to contend with, now the underground is acting up for some mysterious reason...
Format: Prose/action
Warnings: The usual.

Comments

Later

[hatsandespresso]

It was an hour before dawn, and it was clear that no one in the church had rested peacefully. Despite the quiet safety that the grand walls provided, there was a lurking danger just beyond those doors, a darkness that lurked at the windows and diminished the light of the stained glass windows. It may have been a place of faith and power inside, but a nightmare lay just a few dozen feet away.

Neal shifted restlessly, in the throes of a nightmare of his own - he hadn't woken up ever since their arrival in the church.

Jamie was curled up one of the pews, knees to his chest. He didn't look tired, but every so often, his chin would slowly lower down onto his chest.

[legallygreen]

Jennifer was still sitting on the floor with Neal's head in her lap. The wound on her side had slowly grown closed, the ones on her back and shoulder having been covered with fresh tissue. The one in her side still pulled painfully when she moved though. Reaching down, she untied the scarf that had been wrapped so painfully around her waist.

There, the blood was dry and obscured what looked like a wound that had been healing for days instead of hours. She sighed softly and leaned back, trying to soothe Neal with a gentle hand on his forehead. No help yet, but she had tried to contact people outside. The oppressive darkness was getting to them all though.

"Someone is coming." She said softly, perhaps to reassure Jamie, perhaps to reassure herself.

[doomedtheworld]

Vin was afraid.

Sometime during the hours of waiting she had sat down against the wall and pulled her knees up, resting her arms on them. Exhaustion pressing down on her, she'd found her mind wandering back to her "fight" with the Inquisitor. It was only the second time since she'd discovered her powers that she'd faced something she couldn't defeat and couldn't escape from. Her pewter was gone and she had only specks of her steel and iron remaining, nothing that would do her any good in a fight and that man, that thing was still out there waiting for the chance to make its move

[hatsandespresso]

Despite Jennifer's attempts to chase away the nightmares with a soothing touch, it didn't seem to work - Neal's brow furrowed, anguish lining his face as a soft word slipped past his lips, barely audible.

Kate.

Jamie rested his chin on his knees and shivered. "I know. I just...is it dawn yet?"

[scarfandknives]

[outtabubblegum]

It was a commonly held bit of wisdom that wizards, by nature, were subtle and quick to anger. Indeed, it was their subtlety that made them such a force to reckon with, as a truly clever and well prepared wizard could overcome almost any threat, crush any foe, and thwart any power. Cunning and subterfuge was not just the virtue of a magician, but of a true spell slinger.

Some days, though, a man just needed to take a stand.

In other words; Fuck subtle. Harry Dresden was going to war

[legallygreen]

Jennifer groaned as she got up slowly, having stripped her jeans off, or what was left of them anyway, and rolled them up into a pillow for Neal's head. Her legs were sore from hours of being bent to her side and her side was killing her still, though it was nowhere near as bad as it had once been.

A quick check on Jamie and Vin, and she limped to the door, opening it just a crack to look and see if the darkness had any holes in it at all. It was then that she caught a glimpse of a teenage girl, and then heard the booming voice of Harry Dresden, feeling a small amount of relief wash over her.

She had to jerk the door shut to avoid the spray of miniscule pavement pieces, but then opened it again, hoping to see whether the fallen angel came forward or not. Turning her head, she nodded at Vin.

"It's going to be okay. Harry's here."

[doomedtheworld]

Vin jumped a little at Harry's voice, the sound snapping her out of her thoughts. She shook her head to clear away some of the bleariness and forced herself to stand and look outside the window. She burned what little tin she had left, wincing as it made her head pound but the rush of senses cleared her head some more and let her see outside clearly. She blinked at the spray of stone that struck that window as Harry let loose some of his rage and stared for a moment at the wizard standing there out in the open, booming a challenge to his enemies.

Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her but for an instant he almost looked like Kelsier.

"Can he beat him?" She wondered quietly, mostly to herself as she narrowed her eyes and scanned the street. The Fallen Angel hadn't reappeared yet but she was sure he wasn't far away.

[secondcity_npc]

"Well, well, Mr. Dresden," a voice called out politely, "You still know how to make an appearance." Nicodemus walked casually from out of apparently nowhere, his wool coat now buttoned up against the chill of the very early morning. He smiled at the wizard as if it had been a long time since he had seen an old friend. "Are you hear to help me collect what is mine?"

At this, his eyes shifted towards Knives, a dark, knowing look in his eyes.

[scarfandknives]

[outtabubblegum]

That was a voice from Harry's nightmares. Of all the myriad enemies Harry had ever met, Nicodemus was quite possibly the single most dangerous, cruel, and terrifying of the lot. He had the raw power of a fallen angel, the experiences of a thousand lifetimes, and the cunning that was all too human. Even a few months ago, given the choice between fighting the leader of the Fallen and running for his life Harry would have gladly taken the running screaming option nine times out of ten.

That was before. Now Harry's nightmares were far darker things, and his own power far beyond what it was. Now he was no mere wizard. He was the barer of Soulfire, and the Knight of Winter, and it was about damn time he started acting the parts. Fixing the smug man with a cold stare, he just made a show of rolling his eyes.

"Hell's bells Nick, doesn't anyone stay dead anymore? Do you really have nothing better to do than piss me off?"

[legallygreen]

"I hope so." Jennifer replied, answering Vin's question with the question in her own mind. But then again, it would not do to have anything but perfect faith in Harry's abilities. He had come to help her, to help them. She was not going to doubt him.

"He'll help us." She said more confidantly this time. She then turned her attention back to the people outside, the cold air making her shiver in the open doorway. So he finally had a name, this fallen angel.

[doomedtheworld]

Vin just nodded, watching the confrontation and listening to it through the cracked door. She felt a small surge of hope, listening to Harry call out the demon. She really didn't know what kind of power the wizard had but if he was bluffing he was definitely better at it than she'd given him credit for. Still another part of her reminded her that she had hit "Nick" with the hardest blow she could muster, three times, and it hadn't even made him uncomfortable.

"I need to see the street." She said, making her way to the door and trying to push past Jenn. "I still have tin, I'll be able to see if any more try to sneak up on him."

[secondcity_npc]

Nicodemus smiled cordially and then nodded in the direction of the church at Knives's question. "Four coins of certain worth, miss. A man in there stole them, and I only aimed to retrieve them."

He walked a bit closer to the two of them, unfazed by the magic sparkling around Harry's staff. "Mr. Dresden, would you have this end in violence? They have put a sizable dent in your powers on purpose, and I must say, it was quite clever of them." His shadow, created by the light of the magic, bubbles and twisted menacingly as he slowed to a halt. "All I ask is that the denarii are returned to me."

[scarfandknives]

[outtabubblegum]

Now that was interesting. Apparently either Nicodemus knew who it was who had brought everyone to this false Chicago, or he was trying to make Harry think he did. With Nicodemus either option was a possibility, but no matter which was true it still told him something important. Whoever was behind this, they were strong enough to either abduct Nicodemus, or to convince him to work with them