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

Comments

[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...

[sonof3lions]

He didn't actually notice how skimpy Zatanna's outfit was until just this moment. Galahad actually pauses and stares for a moment before he averts his eyes, flushing all the way up to the tips of his ears. It's easier to focus on the others in the room. At least the other ladies are covered, if still somewhat scandalously dressed.

He squares his shoulders after a moment and nods. "And I am Galahad," he confirms. "Though I see that I am already known." That causes a frown and a crease to develop between his eyebrows before he banishes the thought.

After a moment, he started looking around again. "I wonder for what reason we have been called to this holy place," he mused aloud, words oddly formal. It wasn't like he was the only one wondering.

[charityandfaith]

Charity had made a sincere effort to hold her tongue on the subject of Zatanna's attire. It was, after all, only a little worse than what Molly had worn when she was in what Charity didn't like to think of as anything more than that phase. In a church, though? Definitely not appropriate. "Organization comes pretty easily after realizing what chaos the household would devolve into otherwise. I have seven children." And she missed them terribly. Chaos would be held at bay by Michael and Daniel, but keeping the household running smoothly wasn't the only thing of importance.

She looked closely at Dean when he gave his name. There was a slight similarity in features. "That would make Sam your brother, then?" she inquired.

Saying his name had likely been a mistake. Charity didn't want to put him on his guard, but she still refrained from actually explaining. "I've seen you once before, briefly. Enough for your appearance to be familiar, at least." She considered Galahad's question, still somewhat inwardly marveling at the fact that she was once again speaking with a Knight of the Round Table. "We'll have to either make an investigation of the church or visit the bookstore in hopes of finding out who left the note. A note isn't much use unsigned." She weighed the two options and waited for the others to do the same.

[hatsandespresso]

Neal chuckled. "Well, you had been throwing a sacred object around trying to kill a heavenly being. Yeah, some people would call it that." Something dark and twisted brushed against the back of his mind when she took his hand to pull him towards the church, and he was about to open his mouth to protest when that shadow startled in surprise.

he's here...

Neal stopped dead in tracks as a sense of strange familiarity and jealousy ran through him, turning his gaze eastwards. "He's..." Who was he?

[chosenfreedom]

Dean gave Zatanna's outfit a brief smirk of interest in passing because hell he did have eyes after all.

He nodded to Charity's question as he stepped closer, "Yeah, he's my little brother.". Well he hadn't been littler than Dean since high school, but as older brother, Sammy's always going to be the little brother in his opinion.

He then added, "Well if there aren't bells here anyway, let's go see who's been sending the greetings."

[legallygreen]

"I maintain that there is nothing heavenly about Nicodemus. If anything, it was poetic justic." Jennifer replied, frowning a little in response to his grin.

When Neal's expression changed, her hand clenching his a little tighter when she saw the change. There was something dangerous about a sudden mood change in Neal, and while the smart thing would have been to let his hand go, she stayed next to him, a little more than apprehensive as he started talking nonsense.

"He? Who is he, Neal?" She asked quietly.

[spellsbackwards]

Zatanna was about to make a comment about Charity clearly being of Amazonian descent, if she could look that good after seven children, but was distracted by Neal, and the sudden change in his demeanor, and the fear in his voice.

Instinctively, she began to chant quietly to herself, drawing in the energy she may need for a protective or defensive spell. She kept the tone quiet and respectful, much as a parishner may mumble a prayer to themselves. Fishnets and theatrics or no, she did have a great respect for churches... or any type of faith, really.

[sonof3lions]

The frown returned. "It is not a meeting that I remember," he admitted to Charity. "When I agreed to act as Guardian to..." He trailed off, realizing that he was likely saying too much. "This place is not what I expected when I agreed."

Then the small brunette returned with another man. He couldn't hear their conversation, but he did notice the change in the man's bearing. It was enough to make him tense as well, hand dropping to the pommel of his sword.

[charityandfaith]

Smiling very slightly, Charity told Dean, "He and I were in the same group on one of those missions for which they keep kidnapping people." Sam had accounted for himself well, leaving Charity inclined to like the brothers. And Dean's reply had reminded her of her own family. The height order among her children had been shifting, but Molly would still, she was sure, maintain that the oldest two boys were her little brothers.

Charity leveled a sympathetic gaze at Galahad, replying, "I don't think any of us were prepared for this place. I'm luckier than most, I suppose, in that the location is familiar to me, as are some of the dangers." He had most likely been talking about the grail. Charity hoped that it would not put the knight at odds with Clare should they ever meet.

"Neal?" Charity called in concern as they approached and he tensed. Charity put one hand inside the bag she carried, ready to pull free a weapon if necessary. Sudden changes in attitude were not good things when coming from someone with a Fallen whispering into his mind. With the Fallen talking to him, Charity was as worried about Neal himself as about another threat, though she would be terribly upset to have to fight him. Not to mention that she didn't think she could fight a Denarian and hope to win. Hopefully it wasn't doing more than whispering. She should have kept tabs on Neal more closely.

[hatsandespresso]

Neal couldn't pinpoint why that sense of familiarity rung so deeply through him, bringing with it jealousy, anger, and something else. Whatever it was, the source and the memory, must have been powerful - Belias rarely let any of his emotions leak through his shadowy hold on him. He frowned, still looking off towards the east, in the direction the writer of the note had professed to go.What has you so afraid, Belias...?

He was answered by sullen rage. There is no fear within me, mortal - it is beyond your comprehension.

Which answered nothing at all. Neal sighed and became belatedly aware that he was the focus of everyone's worried attention. His eyes widened slightly. "What?"

[chosenfreedom]

"Yeah I was in one of the earlier groups trying to find where they took the missing people. We both been raised doing stuff like that," Dean commented to Charity.

He then tilted his head to the side, "Wait, so you were in a Chicago like this?" He also then remembered he had heard mention of her by Neal actually, and he was right that they would eventually meet each other. Speaking of Neal, something was really up with the guy. He wondered if it had to do with the not so nice angel on his particular shoulder.

He eyed him as well, "There a reason you look like you got a wing up the ass?"

[legallygreen]

When Neal finally responded, Jennifer could tell that his inner dialogue had quit. She let out a soft breath of relief, and straightened up a bit, grateful that nobody had noticed that she was still holding his hand, if for nothing else but to give him an anchor in the world outside the one Belias would love to paint for him.

"Oh, you're just fine." She said, nodding a little.

Eager to move on, she nodded a bit at the people that had joined them outside. "Are we going somewhere? Excuse me for leaving before introductions were made. I'm Jennifer Walters."

She nodded to Charity and Galahad, the only two she did not know, and threw a glance back up at Neal. Her fingers gave his a squeeze, reminding him that he was in the real world, not Belias.