The Riddle of the Bells [[ Open ]]

[secondcity_mods]

Characters: Anyone interested in figuring out the mystery behind the church’s chimes
Time: Throughout the day (Currently post-dated to Sunday, February 13th)
Location: St. Peter's Church to the café at Barnes and Noble on East Jackson
Content: The bells of churches in the northern part of the Loop have been ringing all day - even for churches that

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[legallygreen]

The last time she had been here, an innocent man who tried to protect her had died.

Jennifer wrapped her coat a little tighter around her body, feeling the cold press of the M1911 against her shoulder as she looked up at St. Peter's. It was here that she had fought Nicodemus, and had failed to do anything but make him angry. That and he called her sacreligious. What exactly does one have to do to get a fallen angel to call them sacreligious? She knew that Linkara would call that something like an Irony Achievement Award.

The bells were ringing, loudest here than anywhere else, keeping her from even the light, nightmarish sleep she had been able to get beyond the deep, drug-induced stupors that came many nights. The weird thing was, there did not seem to be any bells to actually ring. It had been foolish to come alone, but Jennifer would rather face whatever was calling without getting anyone else involved.

She could still see Jamie's face as he caught her when Belias had thrown her, how it had wrinkled in concern at the wound in her side, now nothing but a memory. And how shocked and afraid it had been when he had been yanked into the shadows, never to be seen again. Frowning, she adjusted her glasses, and walked into the church, half expecting to get struck by lightning for what she had done last time.

Inside the door, she let out a little sigh of relief. No fire yet.

[spellsbackwards]

"I'm not sure which was more troubling," said Zatanna as she approached the other woman from a few yards away. "The bells, or the sudden lack of them."

She crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes, extending her senses outwards and attempting to get a "feel" for her surroundings, in every way she could.

"I'd actually started to get used to them. Incorperated the rhythm into my meditation. I don't think I've ever heard... or not-heard quite an ominous silence."

Frowny magician is frowny.

[legallygreen]

Jennifer turned when she heard a voice behind her, her hand in her coat as she did. But the figure approaching did not look threatening, a woman she had seen on the network before but had never responded to as she knew nothing about magic. So the hand eased away from the gun, and her attention went back to screwing up the courage to go all the way inside.

"There aren't any bells in this church. I want to know why the sound of bells was coming from here. Of all places." Jennifer replied quietly before taking another step forward, relieved when there was still no fire.

"I'm Jennifer."

[sonof3lions]

The church bells had even started to get on his nerves before the end. And Galahad liked the sound of church bells, for the most part. Still, when they started dying down, he'd followed the sounds of the final bell until he was here, standing in front of the church with two ladies. And with his sword but no armor. Possibly not the smartest thing in the entire world, but with luck, he'd survive.

He approached, nodding to both women respectfully. "It is unusual for a church with no bells to peal them," he agreed. "And a reason to maintain caution. Though, with so much else strange in this place, perhaps one should not be surprised."

Yes, he really did sound that formal.

[charityandfaith]

Charity was in church when the bells began ringing. She went every Sunday regardless of whether a priest was present and conducting Mass, though she wished she could get to Saint Mary of the Angels. It wasn't the right time for bells, and she rose to check the bell tower. By the time she reached it, the bells had had stopped ringing. She looked around the empty bell tower, frowning, and quietly said a prayer. The tones of the bells had been unusually loud and deep, and she didn't like the idea of anything supernatural getting into the Church that wasn't supposed to be there. She could hope that it had been benign, for now.

When, a scarce moment later, the exact same tones started up further south, Charity ran down the stairs. Tucked in an alcove in the entryway of the church was a bag containing her armor and weapons, and she shrugged into the Kevlar-lined jacket and mail coat as she strode briskly southward down the sidewalk. She slowed momentarily to fasten the mail and slide a cross between cap and helmet onto her head as yet another church took up the bells, continuing until she arrived at the very last place of worship before running into the fog barrier. The bells had led her to Saint Peter's, and Charity pushed open the door. She did not draw a weapon from the bag, not in the House of God unless it proved to be necessary. But neither did she lay down the bag containing her arsenal.

"Saint Peter's doesn't have bells, does it?" she mused as she heard the last couple sentences of the conversation, nodding a greeting to those already gathered in the building. It had been obvious from the beginning that the ringing came not from the bells, but it was all the more disconcerting here. "The tones weren't right in any of the other churches either. They're usually a little higher pitched and not so loud in the one I was in when they first began. I don't think that any of the ringing was of actual bells."

[hatsandespresso]

The bells had started to grind his nerves when one of the churches had six hundred and ten tolls in less than twenty minutes. Usually, he had a good deal of respect for places of worship but this was ridiculous, especially if the churches were far enough away where they shouldn't have been heard.

So while the bells of the last church were ringing, he decided to see exactly what was behind it - this wasn't something normal, and he figured there had to be good reason behind the constant ringing.

As he drew closer to the church, a sickening feeling began to rise in the pit of his stomach. He recognized these streets from the maddening dash away from Nicodemus three months ago, remembered the ice-slicked roads and the overwhelming darkness that was deeper than night...and he was there, standing in front of the church were hellfire and something else had collided. Where that boy had died and where he had nearly killed his friends.

Grimacing, Neal stared up at the figure of Christianity's savior hanging from a cross over the door and dared not walk any further. Too many memories, all of them bad.

[chosenfreedom]

Dean only went to church generally for supplies. Rosaries, holy water, that sort of item a hunter can only get from a holy location. He never believed any of it, not since he was very small. Even now when he knew they all were real, it only bothered him more that angels and God didn't seem to give a crap.

Still he had wondered like many people about the tolling of church bells that were happening so often. And as odd as it was, it was even weirder when they stopped. Possibly hunter kind of weird. As it was, he armed himself, and headed over to investigate. He have a nod to Jennifer, also noted Neal, but didn't recognize the others there.

He walked in just in time to hear Charity's words.

"Ok, the bell tolls, but it's not a bell? We talking more magic here?"

[secondcity_npc]

There was no sign that anyone had been within the church recently, but there was a note near the altar, taped to it. In perfect cursive, it read:

Out to lunch at B&N. Will return shortly.

[legallygreen]

Figures she did not recognize walked into the church, a blond young man, and a tall blond woman in armor who was beautiful enough to make Jenn feel a little awkward in her jeans and knee high winter boots. She nodded to them in greeting, listening to speculation as the door opened again, revealing Dean Winchester, and a flash of something or someone familiar outside.

"Excuse me a moment." She said quietly, putting a hand on Dean's arm and giving it a squeeze before walking past him.

She pushed open the door, unsurprised and somewhat unhappy to see Neal out there, looking up at the cross over the door. She stepped outside, tucking her hands into her pockets.

"Didn't think I was going to see you here."

[spellsbackwards]

"Zatanna," the magician murmured to Jennifer, and the others who soon gathered there as well. Her arms were still crossed, and she still looked pretty damn bothered by the whole thing.

She raised an eyebrow at Charity's armored arrival. "I suppose working clothes may not be a bad idea," she remarked, and mumbled a few words under her breath, drawing up some protective magics around herself, so that when she pulled off the heavy wool coat she wore, she wasn't going to freeze while running around in her usual costume.

It wasn't the most practical-looking thing, sure, but it's what she was most comfortable in.

"I honestly can't tell if I'm picking up on any weirdness, or if it's just nerves. But something feels really, really wrong."

[sonof3lions]

Galahad frowned at the note before asking, "What is a B and N?"

Well, it wasn't his fault that he hadn't come across it yet. Though it wouldn't have made any sense in context, either.

Shaking himself, he turned and paused, taking in Charity's armored form. It took a moment to school away the grimace. There seemed to be a lot of women who were trapped in this place. What sort of men were their captors?

"Aye," he finally agreed with the woman in the heavy cloak. "It does feel very wrong. I do not know what manner of sorcery it is, but it seems as though we may have been drawn here for a specific purpose."

[charityandfaith]

Charity nodded to Dean. "I'd say magic, yes." It could, of course, be something more along the divine scale, particularly in light of its location, but something just felt strange to her when it came to the bells.

"I carry them with me," Charity told Zattana, a slight gesture with the large and clearly not yet empty bag emphasizing her point. "It only takes once being caught with no weapon near to hand to make that seem a very good idea."

Who exactly was out at lunch? "It stands for Barnes and Noble, which is a bookstore," she absently answered the man who had asked.

As she got a good look at the blond man, though, Charity murmured very softly, "Galahad!" His lack of reaction after a pointed look implied that he did not recognize her as she did him. Whoever was behind the whole debacle had managed to bring Galahad here.

Pulling out of the state of slight awe, she got back to business, "Since danger doesn't seem to be immediate, the rest of us should probably introduce ourselves as well. Names are useful when something happens, particularly if one person sees trouble first. I'm Charity Carpenter." As she spoke, Charity reached behind her head and gave a tug to free her blonde hair from the jacket, the barest of grimaces flickering across her face. It had tangled in the mail. Not taking the time to braid it had been the right choice, of course, with no way of knowing whether there was serious trouble at hand, but mail should never be worn with long loose hair, not if one wants said hair to remain attached to the scalp. She pulled the hair over one shoulder and rapidly wove it into a tight plait.

[hatsandespresso]

Neal looked up when he saw Jenn walk out of the church, and he smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes.

"I got distracted by all the racket."

[chosenfreedom]

Back inside, Dean nodded, "Yeah something definitely smells around here." His own hunter instincts were on high alert. Still he did a double take, because seriously? Freaking Galahad is here too? They're grabbing knights too? He hoped he wasn't one of the parts they supposed to find on the insane scavenger hunt.

Still yeah introductions, it still felt odd to use his real name, after so many years of aliases for hunts.

"Dean Winchester."

[legallygreen]

Jennifer returned his smile, letting it meet her eyes as concern crept in slowly. She glanced up at the cross over the doorway, and somewhat figured it out, knowing how he felt a little bit. She approached him, and one of her hands slipped out of her pocket, reaching down and finding his.

"Not alone here. Come on, let's go inside. If I can make it inside, you'll be fine. The scary fallen angel called me sacreligious and I made it without bursting into flame."

[spellsbackwards]

There was probably someone, somewhere, who'd object to Zatanna walking around a church in fishnets, but the idea of her attire being at all inappropriate didn't seem to occur to her.

"I think I like you," she said to Charity, with a slight smirk. "I've never been terribly good at organizing anything, I try to make it a habit to spend as much time around those who are always prepared as I can. I keep hoping some day it'll rub off on me."

Then she sighed. "Sorry. When I get nervous, I quip. I think it's part of the job description. Hang out with people in tights and capes often enough, and you get certain habits."

The presence of Galahad really only drew a slight raise of an eyebrow. She knew a knight from his era in her world. Well, she'd met the knight's talking horse first...