Some Old Feeling

[mikes]

There was a chill in the air Veronica didn't expect the moment she stepped out the Admiral Hotel. It was strange- a feeling that was equally stale and static ran through the city. It was as if something was off, but she just couldn't quite place her fingers on it.

"Strange," Veronica murmured.

With a twist on her heel, Veronica took returned to the hotel. Following after a bell hop, she asked, "I am sorry but where are we? What is this city?"

The bell hop, a young boy who could not have been older than the age of nineteen, looked up at Veronica with a lost gaze and a somewhat defeated shrug.

Veronica felt herself taken back, but pressed on, "Are you alright?"

The bell hop nodded and walked away.

"... Very strange."

<***>

Somehow, Veronica had found herself sitting before the grand steps that led to the old Admiral Hotel with a cup of coffee perched on her lap, and a cigarette between her lips.

The coffee was nothing great, but it was coffee and it did wonders to perk her senses. Taking a drag off her cigarette, she kept her attention towards the city before her

Everything seemed to desolate, yet there were people about. It was strange, their movements reminded her of ants. Just going about with some direction but no sense of self.

[trace]

She was different to the rest, he could tell that immediately. The rest of the people he had encountered had been missing something, and not just their voice. Something internal, something vital, they were essentially mindless husks going about their days, ignorant to everything and everyone else. This wasn’t unlike most people he had met, to be fair, but no, there was something not quite right about the people of this city.

He was not sure he liked it too much.

He did not care for human interaction all that much, aside from when it suited him, but he had little choice here. If he was to discover what had brought him here he would have to seek out the truth, by any means necessary.

”You there, you have a voice, yes?”

[clockworkserpent]

Hoshiro opened the door of his room slightly, peeking into the hall. He was nervous about this place, and had to be cautious.

He stepped out of his room slowly, and scanned the empty hallway. Somewhere, a bell tolled.

"Well that's not foreboding", Hoshiro said. "It means though, that I'm not alone in this place".

Feeling nervous, he walked down the hallway until he came to some stairs. Nobody was around, and the silence after the tolling of the bell was stifling. Hoshiro needed to get out of this place. It gave him the creeps.

After several flights, he found himself in the lobby. No one was at the front desk, however a young boy who seemed to be a bellhop walked back inside the hotel and headed for a side room. Whether he ignored him or didn't notice he was standing there, Hoshiro didn't know.

"Hey, wai-" Hoshiro said, before the bellhop entered another room and closed the door soundlessly behind him. He had a slow, lumbering gait, and for some reason, Hoshiro didn't sense any "self" to him. Its like he wasn't all there. Shivering a little, he walked slowly to the doors, his footsteps muffled by the aging carpet of the hotel.

At the door, he noticed a woman sitting at the steps.

[mikes]

Veronica was about halfway through her cigarette, when she took another sip of coffee and heard the voice call out behind her, ”You there, you have a voice, yes?”

Her eyes perked up- for a moment, not all was lost. For a moment, there was hope. Maybe this was her start to finding out where she was, how she got here, and most importantly, how she could go home.

Veronica looked at the stranger at her as he came her way. "Yes, I have a voice." She rose from her spot on the step and held out her hand to him. "I'm Veronica, I just woke up here."

In the distance, behind the stranger, she saw another. He looked young, a boy no older than twenty, looking towards them with a glimmer in his eyes that differed from everybody else.

Veronica waved at him and looked at the stranger before her. "It appears there may be another."

[trace]

Trace turned to the second newcomer, considering how much of a 'coincidence' this was. Moments ago he hadn't seen another person beside the mindless, and he scarily considered them people given their state. Now he'd met two in less than a minute. What were the odds? Trace had learnt a long time ago never to trust coincidences. Still, he couldn't deny he was glad to know he wasn't the only sentient person here. Even if these two were enemies, at least it'd give him a target.

"So, I don't suppose either of you consider yourselves locals?"

[clockworkserpent]

Hoshiro saw the woman extend a hand towards a man before waving at him. Somehow he found it comforting to run into other people. This was a strange place after all, and the bell that tolled earlier did nothing to help his nerves.

"D-did you guys h-hear the bell..?" he stammered out nervously, his voice barely a whisper.

"Get it together Hoshiro!" he told himself in his head. Looking at the two of them blankly, he took a step and ended up falling flat on his face.

"Owwwww.." he said, rubbing his nose. Hoshiro slowly got up, dusted himself off, and said "I'm Hoshiro. Who are you guys and what is this place?"

[mikes]

With no sign of a handshake or any formal introductions, Veronica looked at the stranger's hand before her and lowered her arm. Like her, he had pressing questions. But any formalities would have to wait, at least for now.

"So, I don't suppose either of you consider yourselves locals?"

"I'm afraid not," Veronica replied, taking a drag off her cigarette as she looked at the young man before them. "Hello, Hoshiro."

Veronica gave the young boy a smile as she gave herself the moment to take the situation in. Here they were, three strangers in the middle of a city filled with thousands, possibly millions of souls- neither one, at least from the looks of things, held the capacity to communicate in any way possible. God, it was like they were in a book or something.

"I woke up here days ago... Truth be told, this is the first time I've actually had a chance to see the city. Don't know how I got here, let alone know where exactly I am."

"D-did you guys h-hear the bell..?"

That was the second time Veronica had heard the bell, at least within the last hour. She had paid it little mind- considering it something she would get to once had herself grounded.

"The one just now? I heard it too," Veronica replied, turning her head towards the direction of the sound. "Do you guys want to check it out with me?"

[trace]

"Do you guys want to check it out with me?"

Usually Trace wouldn't have considered it, he didn't yet know if he could trust this pair, not to mention the man, Hoshiro, seemed less than reliable in a tight situation. Still, he needed answers, and if these were the only other 'living' people in this city then it was best to stick with them. Either to solve things, or to dispose of them if they turned out to be the enemy.

"I'm in. Chances are somebody is ringing that bell to get our attention." He considered that for a second. "Could be a trap, draw us in, capture us, or worse. Can I rely on the two of you if it comes to a fight?"

Regardless of the answer he wouldn't bank on their help, but depending on their response it would go a long way on making a first impression.

[clockworkserpent]

"Do you guys want to check it out with me?"



Hoshiro was nervous, but the sooner he got answers, the better. He understood from his time as village protector that information was a weapon; and the sooner he got some, the faster he wouldn't feel helpless.

"I'll go with you!" he half-shouted. "Sorry.. this place really gives me the creeps.." he trailed off, rubbing his nose.


"I'm in. Chances are somebody is ringing that bell to get our attention." He considered that for a second. "Could be a trap, draw us in, capture us, or worse. Can I rely on the two of you if it comes to a fight?"



There seemed to be a minor but palpable ominous aura emanating from the man. Hoshiro instantly distrusted him, but reminding himself they were all in the same situation, he decided to go along with him anyway. 

"Meeting new people is always nerve-wracking" he thought. "But I have to work with what I got".

"I have some abilities that might be able to help in a fight, yeah" he tried to say off-handedly. Somewhere in the distance, the bell tolled again.

[mikes]

Truth be told the stranger had said things that Veronica had only just considered. If they were the only people engaging in an actual conversation at this time, given everything around them, the church bells could very well be a trap of sorts. Then again, Veronica figured that they wouldn't know exactly what was going on until they got there.

And truth be told, Veronica could use a little more than a conversation with two people who didn't seem that eager to talk just yet.

"Can I rely on the two of you if it comes to a fight?"

"I have some abilities that might be able to help in a fight, yeah."

Veronica didn't know exactly what that meant but she figured, it was better than nothing.

"I've got nothing to fight with," Veronica admitted. "But I've had my share of physical entanglements before. If it comes to violence, I won't hesitate."

She didn't like that, and she could tell neither did any of them, but given what they had, it was going to have to do.

"Let's go?" Veronica asked, shrugging towards the direction of the church bells as she placed the cigarette between her lips again and took a drag.

By her estimation, the church wasn't that far from the hotel. Give or take a couple of blocks. The whole city was just strange- there was activity, but like the people in the hotel, there was hardly any life if any of their movements. It was as if they all had lost their souls sometime ago, perhaps even long before any of them had awoken in the hotel.

"This whole place reminds me of this movie I saw before, Wristcutters: A Love Story," Veronica said, taking another drag off her cigarette. "It was about this guy who woke up one day in Purgatory, surrounded by the souls of people who had killed themselves. Only difference is that I don't recall killing myself..."

It was an observation, but in truth, Veronica just wanted to get something a conversation out of them. There was something inside her tellin' her that there is the chance that she couldn't possibly leave this place, and if that was the case, she reckoned maybe it was for the best she got to know the people around her.

[trace]

"Only difference is that I don't recall killing myself..."

Trace knew she was only talking to drag conversation out of them, and there was little basis to what she say saying given that Trace certainly had not died and this was certainly not purgatory. Still, she was on to something, even if she was heading in the wrong direction with it.

"I don't remember whatever brought us here either, but I'm willing to bet it was done purposefully and that there's a reason we can't remember it. What are the odds that all these people, these mindless, once woke up here with no memory of how they got here?"

[clockworkserpent]

"So what are we waiting for??" Hoshiro said excitedly. He didn't want to admit it, but he was both anxious and exhilarated at the same time. This is a new place, probably with new spirits, and a part of him loved unfolding the mystery of this new world.

"Maybe we should check out that completely not-out-of-place bell that keeps tolling?" he offered helpfully.

As if on cue, the bell tolled again. A cold breeze blew, ruffling Hoshiro's hair.

[mikes]

It had been many years since Fr. Francis Neely first set foot in Animus City. Like the many of his kind, there was so much of the city he had yet to understand until the time came for him to learn of its esoteric ways.

Fr. Francis often wondered how long it had been. Had the years given way to decades? Whatever it was, he had lost count so long ago. All he had now from that bygone time was this: the Church of the Sacred Miracle and the few that continued to help him serve the ways of the lord he prayed to every night.

"That's enough, children," Fr. Francis spoke as he walked before the altar and waited for the congregation to join the afternoon service. "Thank you. Surely, it won't be long. Someone always comes."

With a nod, a small group of three altar boys gathered around the altar and knelt before Fr. Francis.

<***>

The sound of bells had began to wane, but somehow, Veronica knew that they were all on the right path. There was something to this city that had struck her. It was as if the entire city was frozen in time. It was as if nothing had changed, aesthetically, at least since the early 1990's. Everything felt so worn...

"That must be it," Veronica said, just stopping in the block before the church, as before them, a small crowd of what they had dubbed, 'the mindless' began to file inside. "Well, this is interesting..."

<***>

Father Francis was mid-way through his sermon when the three fresh-eyed strangers walked into the church. This was not the first time this had happened. In all the years he'd been serving the Church of the Sacred Miracle, not a week wouldn't go by without seeing someone new crash his services mid-mass.

Admittedly, this was one of the reasons he had the children ring his bells and tinkle the ivories. Yes, 'mindless' walked among the city. But yet, there were souls that needed to be healed. That needed salvation. Maybe that was what he was here for? To save and condemn the damned.

Fr. Francis went through the motions of a short, afternoon Catholic service; straight to the point, with as little singing as possible. And before long, it was time for communion. He approached the front of the altar with two of his boys and waited to see who would come and accept the body of Christ.