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

[legallygreen]

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

[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

[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

[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.

[spellsbackwards]

Zatanna had her spells primed and ready to be slung, should the need arise for them. At least, the spells she'd managed to adapt to the wonky way magic seemed to work here. Everything took more effort, more focus. It was like being a kid again. At least she didn't have braces this time around.

"I'm not sure if we're safer here, or out there. It's possible something friendly was drawing us here in an attempt to protect us. It's also possible it was a call for help. Or a trap." She frowned.

[sonof3lions]

Other than to possibly make Galahad figure he should protect Clare as well, there probably wasn't much chance of them ending up at odds.

He nodded to Charity. "It is good that there are people who understand this place." He smiled a bit. "I could, mayhaps, have used a warning when first I arrived." Since it might have meant that he avoided being kidnapped.

He didn't look to the woman who had spoken. It was unseemly for him to do so when she was dressed in such a way. "We cannot stand here forever and debate." He made a motion to the sign. "We have knowledge of where the possible custodian of this place is. Would it not be prudent to at least see to this person? They may be able to provide us with answers."

[charityandfaith]

Charity nodded to Dean. "My home is just a few miles outside the northern barrier, and I've been trapped here for months. The barriers and the temporal problems are new, but the dangers within the city are mostly of the sort I've seen before, if more concentrated than usual." If that meant any of them had questions for her in future, she would be willing to answer most.

She stepped closer to Neal, looking him over carefully. "You're alright?" she asked once again, avoiding mention of the reason for her concern. Charity did not miss Jennifer's hand in his, but refrained from comment on that as well.

She gave her name once again to Jenn before continuing, "It seems we have a near-consensus. To the bookstore, then?" Charity would of course stay alert for any threats along the way and assumed that the others would do the same.

[hatsandespresso]

Neal nodded at the questions about his well-being. Honestly, it could have been worse - at least this time he wasn't turning into some demonic creature looking to rip out all of their throats. But he still couldn't shake the strange familiar feeling that had settled in him, that called him east.

"There's a note?" he asked, looking over at it. Barnes and Noble. The closest one, as far as he knew, was on Jackson street...due east. He grimaced a bit - whoever was trying to send them a sign was closely linked to the fallen angel in his mind. It wasn't a dark presence, not like Nicodemus. However he sensed power behind it and that itself made him wary.

"We should be careful. Whatever's out there...Belias recognizes it."