9485/A Chance Encounter outside St. Patrick's

A Chance Encounter outside St. Patrick's
Date of Scene:	05 January 2022
Location:	Midtown
Synopsis:	Patience Alperen, the Magdalena, runs into a few members of the Justice League Dark outside St. Patrick's Cathedral. Where that meeting will take them all has yet to be seen...
Cast of Characters:	Jonathan Sims, Patience Alperen, Lydia Dietrich, Cael Becker
Tinyplot:	Path of Glory

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Jonathan Sims has posed:
    There are a /lot/ of people in and around St. Patrick's Cathedral, Midtown, just now. A lot. People of all faiths and nationalities, flocking to hear the prophet, Caitlin Fairchild, who claims to have been spoken to by Saint Michael the Archangel. They say angels are appearing to people in visions. They say Caitlin can heal the sick with a touch. They say a lot of things, and oddly enough most of it is true.

    Jonathan Sims lingers on the edge of the crowd, frowning at them all. The aura of peace and tranquility, joy and community, that covers the place doesn't seem to be affecting the tall brown-skinned man. He stands there with his hands shoved into the pockets of his puffy coat, chin tucked into his green scarf, hat pulled low over curly dark hair that he's been letting grow out. He was going to go try to talk to Caitlin one last time before the battle starts at the morrow's dawn, but he'll stand out in that crowd. He doesn't belong there, and they're sure to know that.

    After all, word around St. Patrick's is that Jonathan Sims and the Justice League Dark are misguided at best and villains at worst. Perhaps it's best if he doesn't try to go in and parley, just now.

Patience Alperen has posed:
    Patience is moving towards the crowd, seeming oddly unbothered by the atmosphere of zeal surrounding the place. She's had a lifetime of living around the extremely devout, and more than most, she knows that it's entirely possible that everything they're saying is true.

    On the other hand, she knows that she's not prepared to get involved in the upcoming battle solo. Technically, she still has a touch-and-go relationship with the Inquisition, but there's a distinctly non-zero chance that they're going to come down on the side of the angels. Honestly...she still isn't sure she isn't. But she needs to know, and she needs to be in a better position.

    And when you need to know something, it's best to go to an expert. And there isn't much more of an expert on Knowing Things than the Archivists. The Church has records going back, if not to the Old Kingdom, at least two millennia. More than once in that long history have paths crossed. Honestly, it's pretty likely that at some point in that long history, a Magdalena has worked with an Archivist. Time to honor tradition.

    The best intel she could get has pointed her this way. And honestly, it's not too hard to spot someone NOT caught up in the atmosphere of the place. Patience drifts through the edges of the crowd, heading towards Jonathan. She approaches, and...well, really isn't too sure how to open up this particular, very strange conversation.

    She settles for "Excuse me. I think we should talk."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia has been flying overhead scouting locations for locations that can be used to inscribe the circles for the gigantic spell that she and the other Justice League Dark members have come up with. It's going to be a huge undertaking and they're going to need to work mostly in secret while the city is under siege, so it's good to get a feel for where they want to lay those down before having to actually go out there and do it.

Manhattan is mostly empty by now. There's a few stragglers left, people who couldn't, or wouldn't evacuate. Then there's the massive throng of people at St. Patricks. It's a good thing the wings that she manifests to fly are black now. If they were their old glowing green she would have been immediately been noticed and mistaken as an angel. Boy, /that/ would have been awkward.

One of the things about being a vampire is how sharp your senses become. Even this high up she can pick out bits and pieces of conversations, and she can make out individual details of the people below. That's when she spies Jon. What is /he/ doing here?

Deciding to talk to him she drops out of the sky a few blocks away, so people won't notice her landing. By the time she gets to him, he's already talking with another woman.

"Hi, Jon," she says pleasantly. For those who look for that sort of thing, there are several tells that Lydia is a vampire. Sure there's the pale skin and the ruby red lips, but there's also the point that when she breathes... /if/ she breathes, there's no condensation of the air. The other thing that marks her as something not quite human is that there are black motes of ectoplasm that lazily swirl around her.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon turns and blinks at the tall woman who walks up to him, taking her in for a moment. He can see auras, see power around people, and the woman has power for certain, in her blood if nothing else. He's becoming used to running into random people at the right place and the right time, so he doesn't seem too put out.

    "Should we?" He glances to the cross she wears. "If you've come out here because of Ms. Fairchild... I wasn't going to go in and accost anyone. I wanted to talk, but I get the sense she's not interested, given... all that." He waves a hand at the crowd he's loitering at the edge of.

    He turns as the vampire approaches, smiling. Maybe glad of the reprieve. "Lydia," he says with a bright tone. "Good, I needed to speak to you. Actually, I have information I need to send to everyone, but..." A glance toward the church. "I wanted to try, one last time, first." Try what, exactly?

Patience Alperen has posed:
    Patience sees Lydia as she approaches, and her body tenses up a moment. Her right hand shifts, and there's almost a move to combat-readiness. Because she's literally spent her whole life learning how to fight supernatural things, and their tells. But she clearly knows Jon, which means that presumably he knows her. Introductions rarely go well when you attempt to stake an acquaintance.

    "Well, to be honest, whether we /should/ or not is an entirely separate issue. I'm hoping to, though. You are associated with people who do battle against the supernatural." She says it, rather than asking it, like it's just a matter of record. WHICH group, well, that could be some of several. "There is such a battle coming, and I am...ill-equipped to fight it on my own. Especially now. I was hoping we might be able to work together."

    Lydia doesn't get attacked, but she is definitely getting a tense gaze.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods in understanding at Jon. "I know..." she says. "There's only so much you can do before words fail to have any meaningful impact anymore." She nods her head towards the church. "I think the Prophet has... well..." She forestalls any other comment in deference to those around them who might overhear.

Patience's wariness doesn't go unnoticed however. She can hear the increased heartbeat, read the dilation of the eyes, all signs that the woman is getting ready to fight.

"Peace, friend," she tells Patience, with a gentle smile. Sure the Beast within had perked its ears with the promise of a fight, but it's something easily controlled, especially since there isn't any open aggression on Patience's part.

"I'm part of that group, too. If we want to talk about it we should probably do it somewhere away from here," she suggests.

Cael Becker has posed:
    Great minds think alike, apparently, as Cael is also approaching the crowd - dressed in her own warm, puffy coat - and with Bear at her side in his 'Service Dog in Training vest.' The dog is massive - nearly 100 pounds of floofy white puppy, still only ten months of age and still growing. His tail wags slowly as they approach the crowd, and Cael's steps slow.
    Shit. This has gotten worse.
    She can see some woman holding up a three year old child - asking for him to be healed. The child looks unhealthy - bald, skin bloated from some sort of disease. The kid shouldn't be out in this cold, and some in the crowd are making way for the desperate mother with her child. She can't help but stare for a while, and then turn away, sickened - and disgusted with herself for the reaction. Hell - maybe the child could get healed here - can she really blame the mother? But this is all //madness//.
    And like Jon, she starts to think better of the foolhardiness of her mission. She starts to move away when her gaze locks onto Jon, the vampire, and a third figure standing together - and she freezes in place.
    Just as Bear gives out a woof of recognition, his tail moving faster.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon watches the same woman for a moment, and sighs. "I only hope it all sticks, if we win," he murmurs. Would Michael be so cruel, as to revoke the gifts he'd given, through Caitlin? He hopes not. But the world's gone so topsy-turvy of late he can't really say.

    He breaks into a genuine smile on seeing Cael, but says, "Ahh... yes, Lydia has a point. Let's get in off the street. There's a station down the road that's offering refreshments to the evac crews, we can go talk there." He turns and starts down the street, clearly expecting the others to follow.

    "I'm Jonathan Sims," he says as he goes. "This is Lydia Dietrich... and Cael Becker, with Bear." He sighs, glancing back toward the church. "I don't know which group you mean precisely, but I'm one of the leaders of the Justice League Dark and Lydia and Cael are... well, Lydia is a member. Cael insists she's just 'helping.'" He rolls his eyes, fondly.

    He looks back to Patience. "The question, then, is... who are you? And what do you consider 'fighting the supernatural.' Lydia and I /are/ supernatural, in our ways; there are those who'd have burned me for a witch, once upon a time. Then again, I've predecessors who took statements in confession, so..." He shrugs.

Patience Alperen has posed:
    Patience displays her namesake a little, with a soft sigh. "Let me lead with "I am not here to fight any of you right now." And then move on to the more useful information. My name is Patience, which will mean nothing. My title may mean more, at least to you." She nods to Jon. "I am the Magdalena."

    While she claims to not be here to fight anyone, Lydia noted her heart rate and posture earlier. Except now it's shifted from a possible attack to a possible defense, as if she's worried that a vampire might try to attack /her/, knowing who she is. Cael, meanwhile, seems to be not acknowledged as a threat. Perhaps it's that she's not giving off supernatural tells. Maybe it's the poofy vest.

    Hey, there's been some bad blood there over the centuries.

    "I am here on my own accord, not from the Inquisition. I know the battle that is about to start and it seems as if I ought to be involved." she adds, by way of explanation.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods in greeting as she's introduced to the woman, following as Jon makes his way to the shelter. "If we win we get to keep on existing," Lydia points out. "Sometimes that has to be enough." She looks back at the church and the throng of people and shakes her head. "As somebody who's devout myself it's a little unsettling to see how blind faith can make somebody."

Lydia scowls a bit, "Not fight any of us right now," she repeats, "meaning that we might fight later." When the Inquisition is mentioned she mutters, darkly, "Yeah, that means that we're going to be fighting later."

Louder she turns to her and says, "Look. Speaking as both a mutant /and/ a Jew," (and a vampire, but she leaves that unsaid) "your folks have traditionally tortured and murdered my folks without good cause throughout history. So while I appreciate your offer to help, forgive me if I suggest we do it far away from each other so I don't have to worry about getting stabbed in the back just for being who I am."

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael finds herself casually swept up by Jon, as she glances back towards the people massing around the church one last time.
    How many of these people would die tomorrow? Would that sick little child end up a victim of all this madness. She lingers a moment more before she follows them, adding in a dry voice, "Yeah, well, I am just helping, Jon. I can't do any magic. I don't have any useful skills for your group. I just- ...ended up swept up in all this insanity."
    She could fill tension rising up in her, and the hostility rolling off of Lydia isn't helping matters any, as she glances towards the woman with a faint frown.
    Bear skitters to the otherwise of Cael, away from Lydia. ...he's really not a guard dog.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "The Magdalena?" Jon stops in his tracks for a moment, eyes flaring citrine yellow. "Last living descendant of Christ. A powerful warrior against evil, wielder of--but, no, that's broken in pieces--no, no, no." He waves a hand, irritably. Mutters to himself. "Shut /up/, would you? Not the bloody time."

    He starts walking again, briskly. "Lydia has a point," he says, tone snapping slightly. "My ancestors were /there/ for the rise of the Church you serve, the Inquisition you mention. I doubt Christ would really have approved, but then, there's a reason I left the fold myself. I /am/ surprised that you're considering speaking to us and not merely walking on into St. Patrick's." He eyes the woman. "That alone tells me we should at least listen to you. I know what it is to be the last scion of a bloodline, to have responsibilities and duties to things your ancesotrs chose that you'd really rather not be part of."

    He glances over at Cael. "No useful skills... who figured out what all that influx was coming from, hmm? Who's got a whole cartridge full of special anti-angel bullets? Everyone around me needs to stop selling themselves short or I'm going to start writing odes, and that won't go well at /all/."

Patience Alperen has posed:
    "I am doing so /because/ I have broken from the Inquisition." Patience explains. "I suspect, quite honestly, that when this battle begins, that they will be on the side of the angels. However, I take the view that trying to wipe out the world that my ancestor gave his life to provide salvation for automatically puts them on the wrong side. Or at least the wrong side as I define it."

    She looks over to Lydia. "I hold no ill will to you for your faith, nor your genes. Vampires, on the other hand, are often predators. The Magdalena often is called on to strike them down. I would hope that the fact that I stand here empty-handed before you proves that I am not here as your enemy. Not today, at least. Today, I hope, we are all on the side of humanity's survival. Whether they be Christian, Jew, or any other faith."

    Cael gets a raised eyebrow, at Jon's words. "Anti-angel bullets? I find myself suddenly very interested." To what end remains undetermined.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"We are /all/ predators," Lydia says sharply, perhaps begrudgingly. "But, not all of us prey on the innocent and unwilling." She lets out a weary sigh with a roll of the eyes, "But Lord knows enough of us do that suspiciousness and hostility is warranted. Hopefully, if we all survive this, you'll see that some of us try /not/ to be monsters."

She shakes her head at Cael. "Don't think so little of yourself. The fighting is only secondary... a delaying tactic I guess, until we can find the true solution to this. Whatever it is it's going to come from people's heart, and not out from a gun. Compassion and balance was what was told of me. Compassion and balance."

Jon's words surprises her too. "Oh? I know I had been working on getting void infused bullets but I hadn't had a chance to manufacture any yet. Where'd you get yours?"

Cael Becker has posed:
    "Uh- Jon? You alright, there?" He just went... weird there for a moment, and Cael studies him with an uncertain expression - that briefly broadens into a smile at the mention of the bullets.
    The smile doesn't last long, though, as Patience inquires after them. "I'm going to use them to shoot Michael in his smug fucking face," she answers, her tone abruptly going cold, and angry. "But no, that's not how we're winning this fight, appearantly - so if you're looking for things like love, compassion, and balance..." she lets out a dismissive snort. "God, you don't know me at all - no, that's not going to come from me."
    She doesn't comment on the origin of the bullets Jon gave her - leaving it up to him how much he was comfortable sharing in their current company. Bear, meanwhile, tugs gently from the edge of the distance his leash will allow - as he apparently tries to lead Cael away from the small group as they walk.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    "Sorry, that was... the Archivist. The Archive. Giving me information on Patience here. Yes, ahh, I have... some unholy water, that I got... well. Let's not get into that. Cael has the last of it, to use against Michael, and she's earned the right."

    Jon's led them to a re-purposed food truck, where nondescript workers--Cael would probably recognize SHIELD agents--are offering hot drinks and snacks to those who come by. He stops nearby and shoves his hands in his pockets. "This will indeed come down to compassion and understanding--I've been told I'm on the right track, trying to psychoanalyze Michael and figure out what makes him tick." Psychoanalyzing an archangel? Really? "But in the meantime--there are still people in Manhattan, and the city still needs defending. If we don't fight Michael, he evidently wins by default." His glower indicates that this is /not/ his first choice.

    "It's a game, a trial, set up by the Archangel Uriel to stop the universe being re-formed because of a malfunction in its formation that's leading to it siphoning and destroying other universes. I am Gaea's Champion, Caitlin Fairchild is Michael's... there are other roles to be filled that we have yet to hear about." He looks to Lydia and Cael. "I think you can both speak more eloquently on our reasons for fighting than I can. I... try, and people's eyes glaze over." He shrugs, and then turns to get himself a coffee and a donut.

Patience Alperen has posed:
    Patience looks from one to the next, as they each speak. "You see? Already, you have information that I do not." This bit about compassion and understanding. And a malfunction in the universe. Her heart sinks some, as she feels very, very out of her depth. She mostly keeps it out of her face. Mostly.

    "I am here to try to help. That is all. The Church has used me, and the others of my line, for the potential our blood gives us. Now, I am trying to use that same potential to help keep this from being the Apocalypse. I...freely admit that I have little experience operating outside the Inquisition's structures, independently." To put it mildly.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"A game?" Lydia asks Jon. "That's not the impression I got from Gabriel. A trial, to be sure, as any such undertaking is a trial. But a game? That's just..." she shakes her head. "No."

She turns to Patience and gives her a sad smile. "I almost envy your ignorance," she says. "The things we've seen... both terrible and great, have shaken us to the core." She looks at her other two companions for agreement when she says, "It's been more terrible than great, to be honest."

"Believe me. We could use the help. We can use /all/ the help we can get. We're just... not sure what we need to do beyond fighting Michael," she says. When a gentleman offers her a steaming cup of coffee she holds up a hand and shakes her head. "No thanks. I'm not a coffee person."

"To catch you up to speed, basically, our universe is a cancer, unique in all creation in that it leeches off other universes for it's survival." She gestures to the now brilliant star in the sky that some people still think is an asteroid, "Michael has decided, in order to save the multiverse, decided to reclaim the creation that he had help building, to repurpose it into a brand new universe free of pesky things like free will." She lets out a cold breath in a sigh and looks up at that star. "And for /some/ reason he's starting with Manhattan."

"There's more to it, though," she continues, tearing her gaze away back down to her earthly companions. "God has given us a chance to ... I guess pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and stabilize our reality, but They're awfully shy on the details as to /how/."

Cael Becker has posed:
    "It's been fucking awful," Cael mutters under her breath, her gaze flicking towards the pup that still tries to lead her away from the group. She takes the coffee that Lydia offers, adding her own descriptor to the nature of the universe in her typical dry voice. "One could even call it vampiric."
    After a sip of the coffee - and a nod to one of the agents she recognizes - she adds, "Of course, all of this comes //after// Michael tried to cleanse New York of its sinners one by one. He redeemed them, and purified them of sins - including a shoplifter - by getting into their heads, temporarily stripping them of their freewill, and filling them with his love and acceptance and their own overwhelming feeling of guilt until they agreed to cruicify themselves. So, you know. ... Michael's one sick fuck - basically." She takes another sip before she adds, "I was the only one of his victims to survive. Thanks to my friends rescuing me," she nods to Jon, "with her spell work," she nods to Lydia.
    Credit where credit due - even if that doesn't save her from the vampire dig.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon shakes his head. "We're not... unique, exactly, we're just... the latest iteration. Michael's tried to get it right before, at least once, maybe more. This is just the first iteration that's had a chance to fix anything." Oh, the /bitterness/ dripping from his tone. "He started with Manhattan because Chas summoned him. He attacked Cael because... she was there." He shakes his head. "None of this is right, or fair, but it's what we've been presented with."

    He sighs. "This is a heavy conversation to have out on the street, I think. Look..." He digs in his jacket, pulls out a leather wallet from which he produces a business card. It proclaims him as Dr. Jonathan Sims, psychiatrist, with an address in Queens, but there's another number written on the back. "Don't bother with the office," he says, holding the card out to Patience. "The number on the back, that's my cell. The vanguard arrives tomorrow at dawn; assuming I'm /around/ afterward I'll answer calls or texts. If you're interested in working with the Justice League Dark I can introduce you to the others."

    He looks to Cael, then. "The road to Westchester's packed... you might want to get moving, get Bear settled before tomorrow." It's a suggestion, more than anything.

Patience Alperen has posed:
    Patience looks a bit frustrated, but will take the proffered card from Jon. "Thank you. I am interested. And...for whatever it's worth, I am sorry for mistreatment you may have experienced from the Church. I did not cause it, but I accept that I may be a symbol of it." Then nods. "I will contact you soon. And thank you." She turns, walking off to leave them to their own devices.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Jon gets a sharp look from the vampiress. "Wait, what?" She gives Patience a pleasant, if strained nod. "I'll take it with the spirit in which it was given," she says. To Cael she nods. "Yeah. It's a zoo out there. I can fly but you still have to deal with traffic. Hopefully we'll exist long enough to meet again."

Cael Becker has posed:
    Cael watches the woman leave in silence, then turns an amused expression back to Jon. "Don't you have to get back there, too?" she remarks in a dry voice. She shakes her head slightly then adds, "Bear and I have a place on a quinjet, actually." She takes another sip, while glancing towards her still clearly uncomfortable pup. "We probably should get going though."
    Her attention returns to Lydia as she adds with a tight smile. "Probably see you tomorrow, when all of this..." God, what a mess. She reaches out to Jon, briefly clapping a hand onto his shoulder before she starts to move off.
    She can't stay here anymore - and Bear is very happy to get away from Lydia, as his tail starts wagging once more.