Meeting of Three

Does Danny actually have his own place outside of the shop? People must have been wondering this for years now, as he's there virtually every day for normal store hours, and only very rarely closes the place. Maybe he has a cot hidden in the back or something... and a weight bench. Regardless! It's sometime after lunch on a Monday afternoon, and Danny is where he might be expected - behind the shop desk, going over the research he had collected with Rese the previous evening. Apparently it's just a white t-shirt day, as that's all he's wearing aside from a pair of jeans and his ratty green army cap. Likely he was up until the wee hours going over the very same thing he's going over right this moment. Thankfully, it's been a slow day, and no one is currently browsing through the store. The radio is currently breaking down to the club beats of Britney Spears' "'Till the World Ends." It is apparently a station that knows no genre bounds.

The front door chimes, and in steps Rese. Just Rese. Wait, no. She's not alone. She's carrying a platter of still-warm chocolate chip cookies. And I mean PLATTER. She's dressed a bit nicer than he's seen her the past couple of days - nice jeans and a rather pretty blue blouse over it - afterall, people respond better to people when they look nice as you're trying to interrogate them. She catches the door with her hip, moving quickly in and to the side to let it close behind her. "This is /not/ such a shock, but Nan was suddenly feeling rather light headed after baking," she announces, tone dry as she moves through the shop towards where Danny is set up. "I mean, /I'm/ shocked. I figure this way, she won't be stealing my Jeep again." She sets the platter down on the edge, away from whatever the research itself. "Find anything interesting?"

It's been three days since Danny had seen Isiael, and the angel has been completely off the radar. He's been unresponsive to pretty much any method of calling him, really. However, one can never say he doesn't keep his promises... there's a flutter, and a rather disheveled looking angel sort of ...appears, somwhat behind where Rese is standing; she may even get a little whuff of the breeze from his arrival. Danny's popular all of a sudden! He looks tired and unhappy, and maybe like he's been through a little something. He's even limping a little. Still, he walks right over to the desk and thunks a heavy object down on Danny's desk - it's small, though, and weighs much more than it appears. It looks to be made of copper or some other similar base metal, and is in the rough shape of same canine deity from Ye Olden Days. It has a few scribed marks on it, and the thing looks Old. Really, really old. "Hello," he says, more or less to them both. Never mind the fact that he has no idea who Rese is or if she's going to shoot him or not.

Glancing up when the door jingles as habit demands, Danny tilts his head curiously as Rese steps towards him with cookies in tow. Her explanation causes him to sigh and roll his eyes a little, but at least no one can say Nan isn't staying in character. Also, holy cookies, Batman. "Whoa, I was expecting a small tupperware container or something. This is like... an hors d'œuvre platter for catering." Yet, she isn't hearing the man actually /complain/. And a cookie is promptly selected and munched upon. It appears as if it he's about to answer her question as well, but then suddenly there is a MAN behind Rese, upon whom Danny's eyes settle somewhat askew. His expression very much reads, 'Are you /mad/!?' "Isiael," he says, so Rese won't freak quite as much. Oh hey, artifact. "Thanks."

"Have you /met/ Nan?" Rese asks, tone dry. "Have you ever known her to do anything half-assed? Because if you have, I would like the date and time so I can reference back to it." She grins, adjusting the platter a bit.. and stealing one for herself. "And yeah. I know, I know.  Don't worry.  I figure I'll stay out for an hour or two to make her a happy old broad, then head... head back..." she stiffens before Isiel actually speaks, her brows coming together as she goes rather still. Her body jerks in surprise, right hand going to her stomache, curling there... but no gun. Well, none is produced. She forces herself to BREATHE as the newcomer gives a greeting, and she eyes the man, trying not to climb out of her skin as her adrenaline is going mad. Right. Riiiiiight. She chokes as she tries to offer a verbal greeting, and just nods instead. That's... easier.

Isiael blinks at Danny's expression in a way that is very uncomprehending. "For your troubles," he says, and then cocks his head slightly at Rese in a querying manner. "Sorry to startle you," he offers, though it's almost more by rote than anything else, though it at least seems sincere. "I didn't know you were here." Well, duh. There's a bit of an awkward moment there, and then he steps aside, looking back toward the doorway. "Apologies that it took so long. There were a few complications. But they are all taken care of." Whatever that means.

Recovering quickly as he does, Danny's expression returns to tired resignation. "Isiael is... an angel," he explains to Rese, trying to find words that won't make it seem quite so outrageous, but failing grossly. "He just... pops in. I helped him with something a few days ago." And, speaking of, the canine-idol-thing is promptly examined. Now, what could this be...? "It's fine," says Danny, glancing up again. "I figured you have your own business to attend to and that you'd see to it eventually."

An ang- Rese's brows come together, and she stares at Danny as ifhe had grown not only a second heard but a third one to boot. Slowly, that gaze swivels to Isiael to stare at the man for several beats, gaze sweeping him from head to toe and back again. Only then does she look back to Danny. "You want to run /that/ one by me one more time, big guy?" she drawls out, though her body tensed. An Angel??

The dog-idol thing is about as big as the palm of Danny's hand and roughly four inches high, but it's much heavier than its size alone would suggest. The script on it is an ancient language, looking to be something perhaps Egyptian in nature, though it's hard to say. With Danny's level of expertise, it can be surmised that the thing has something to do with being a guardian against the dead, but it's hard to say for sure. As far as Isial is concerned, he only looks mildly toward Rese, his features calm despite his somewhat ragged appearance. "I am an Angel of the Lord," he says evenly as answer, even though the question was not necessarily directed towards him.

"Yes," replies Danny succinctly, apparently inured to the prospect of cohabiting a room with one of the more mythical of mythical creatures. "They've been visiting - in 'force' I guess you could say - for a few years now." He takes a moment to make a cursory attempt at translation, murmuring something to himself about 'Anubis' and 'warding against the dead'. Then he sets the thing aside and glances between angel and Hunter once more. "Everything you know about angels are more or less true," he says to Rese, "I can fill you in on the details later. But you can ask him yourself if you have any questions." Although, speaking of questions, he turns back to Isiael and queries: "Did you need me for something else?"

"Oh, I've heard of Angels being around since one of thoe Apocolypses were building up," Rese says more softly, glancing towards said angel one more time. "And the things I've heard from other Hunters?" She swallows hard. "Something about being witnessing people burned alive. Another about getting smacked around without a moment to speak.  Um..." her brows come together. "You know, the whole... Holy fire. Smite the damned.  And everyone is damned sort of thing... Whole towns wiped out by an Angel's wrath." She wets her lips and looks at Danny with furrowed brows. "You know the most interesting people," she breathes.

"Some of my brothers are more-- disrespectful-- of our father's creations," Isiael replies, but instead of sounding angry or, really, anything else, he just sounds very, very weary. And perhaps a little regretful. "That's why there is a war in Heaven right now." He speaks of this as though it's common knowledge, though he exhales a sigh as he looks back to Danny. "Need you?" he asks, apparently taking that very directly. "Not--necessarily, I suppose. But I -was- wondering if you had found out anything useful about Nyx."

For once, Danny actually seemed surprised! "I wasn't sure how much of that had gotten around," he admits, lifting the statuette and setting it on a shelf beneath the desk and out of sight. "I know there's a lot of misinformation floating around - demons posing as angels, angels being blamed for demonic attacks, and then those angels that really are smitten with smiting." Heh. It's a very dry sort of chuckle. Another moment of movement, and he pulls out a notebook from approximately the same space where the statuette was placed. "I don't know about 'useful,' but I do have some information, yeah. But first--" he turns to Rese. "There's nothing in their research that would suggest a motive or cause for their disappearance, but I think we do have a lead. I found a scrap piece of paper with some writing on it that didn't make any sense. It was code for something - an anagram." He pulls said paper from his notebook and hands it over to the Hunter.

There's an angel standing right there. Asking for a favor from Danny. Oh boy, she's going to need another cookie. Or two. Rese blinks back at Isiael, and she really can't help but stare at the man. Angel. Thingamajiggy? Yes, Thingamajiggies is a term that induces far less panic. She reaches for another cookie and moves toards the nearest wall to help prop the darn thing up. Or maybe propping herself up there... "Hunters talk," Rese says hollowly. Granted, alot of the stories they share aren't even remotely true... She looks away from them both towards the front door then back to them again. Leave? Hellll no.

As Danny calls her attention back, Rese turns to look at him and, more importantly, the scrap of paper he's offering over to her. Both brows arch, and she reaches for the paper. And frowns at the scrap, turning it slightly to look at it from different angles before looking at him again. "You realize I'm not the /smart/ kind of Hunter, right?" she drawls out with wry amusement.

Meanwhile, Isiael tries to be casual. It's something that just ends up looking a bit stiff and awkward. Someone hasn't been earthside for very long. "There have been angel attacks on places," he says, frankly. "Raphael's garrison is less interested in keeping things ...intact, I suppose." He frowns a little. "Though nowadays most of us are too busy to be dealing with the affairs down here." Which doesn't answer the question as to why -he's- down here, but hey. He watches this exchange, however, and his brows furrow a little bit. "Disappearances?" he queries, not so much expectantly but with a tinge of genuine curiousity.

While Rese can obviously read the slip of paper, Danny quotes it from memory for Isiael's benefit. "It says, 'Go hit lost NB,' which out of context doesn't really make any sense, yeah. I had no idea what it meant, either. So I figured it must be an anagram. But before I deconstructed it, I did a little digging as to what 'NB' could possibly stand for, and then cross-referenced that with the research we picked up." The man shrugs a bit, obviously not assured that his interpretation is absolutely correct, but he goes on regardless.

"I see 'NB' a lot in academic or legal papers. It stands for 'nota bene,' which essentially means 'pay attention to this thing.' But I didn't find any such notes in the research, which lead me looking for other possibilities: I think it's a reference to the Greek Niobe and Tantalus myths; 'NB' is the abbreviation for Niobium. Long story short, Niobe offended the gods, and was turned into tall stone that wept water all around her." He pauses, pointing to the slip of paper. "That's an anagram for Boston Light - the lighthouse. A tall structure with water all around it. I think that's our best lead for the moment, though I'm not sure what 'lost' has to do with anything. To be honest, I'm hoping I'm wrong, because the Tantalus myth centers around the theft of ambrosia and humans potentially gaining the powers of the gods."

Another frown from Rese as she listens to all of this, continuing to hold the wall up as she studies Danny. Her lips move, though no sound escapes - it's as if she's reciting parts of the story back to herself and committing them to memory. Or she's just talking to herself. Go figure.

A tentative look is sent towards the Angel, studying him with a degree of uncertainty before looking back to Danny. She chews on one of those chocolate chip cookies for a few moments before giving a nod and pushing away. "I can head over there," she says with a firm nod. "See what's out there. It's not as if I'm doing anything else right now."

Isiael listens to all of this, his attention turning between Danny and Rese, his brows furrowed a little. He doesn't really have much to add, though he cocks his head a bit in thought at the story. "I don't think that is possible. Humans gaining the powers of the pagan gods, I mean."

The shopkeeper just shakes his head and admits, "I wouldn't know. But if it /were/ possible, even remotely, it would certainly be something people, monsters, whatever, would kill for. It wouldn't even have to be real. So long as the possibility is there, someone will believe it." He then sips from his ever-present desk mug, the contents of which are likely very cold by now. "Anyways. It's the best I can do right now. So if you go, avoid the Coast Guard," says Danny to Rese. "They tend to have volunteers stationed there. As for Nyx..." The large book on the desk is promptly spun around so Isiael can see. It's a blown up photograph of a page from some medieval manuscript, written in Latin shorthand. "In the legends, she's a mysterious, primordial goddess of the night. Been around since at least Earthly creation, if not before. She's the mother of concepts like death, sleep, dreams, doom, blame, friendship... even the Fates. Powerful, beautiful, even Zeus was afraid to anger her. Yet she for the most part stays out of mortal affairs - neither evil, nor benevolent. Just... there. Like she's been watching, never interfering, but always being around in some form or another.

"Aren't there legends about how a god would imbue a mortal with their powers?" Rese asks, pushing away from the wall. "I mean, in Greek mythology, you would drink ambrosia. In Celtic, it was the golden apples.  In Norse?  There was a mead of poetry, or rather, all knowledge, and there was a helm that would make you damn near invincible," she points out. Hey, the girl knows a thing or two! Who'd've thunk? "But it could be some sort of equivilent to that. There are weapons and things like that throughout lore and mythology...." She trails off, flushing faintly before giving a small shake of her head.

"I... " she pauses, chewing at her lowerlip. "I suck at the whole research thing, but... Do you need help?" she asks this, turning to the angel, her tone distinctly uncertain.

"I wouldn't put it past the pagan gods to make people think it is possible," Isiael admits. "To keep people interested in them, to try to ...gain a foothold again. They have lost much." He doesn't sound like he's particularly sympathetic to them, however.

Once the book is spun around, his attention is caught and he leans forward onto the table, an expression of deep thought on his features. "Then why is she involved in this?" he mutters. "This... object, it's not something that should interest her, unless she is planning on using it as a bargaining chip for some--" And, the angel abruptly looks very annoyed, though it's there and gone in a flash. Blue eyes cut over to Rese, and he thinks about that for a moment before answering, "Maybe."

Danny again looks between the assembled pair and shrugs. "Could be, I don't like to say anything's not possible until I see proof otherwise. So. Who knows?" But that seems to be all he's willing to say about it now, at least until more evidence happens. "You're speaking 'vague' again, Isiael," he reminds the angel.

Her head cants toone side, and Rese studies Isiael intently as he speaks. Even as Danny speaks. "So you've been around angels enough that you can call them on 'again's?" she asks in an aside to the shopkeeper. Another chocolate chip cookie is snatched up from the platter, and Rese retreats the couple of steps back to the wall.

Isiael huffs a sigh, and straightens. He splays his hands in a bit of a helpless gesture, which may seem odd when coming from an angel of all things. "Could I use the help? Yes, I could, I think. I don't know what she wants or why, and I'm cut off at the moment and so I can't speak with my brothers, and that ...complicates things."

"Not exactly," says Danny to Rese, correcting her with a brief shake of his head. "Isiael came to me requesting a service. I've spoken with angels in the past, but let's just say this is the first time the conversation didn't involve 'musts' and 'wills' with a flavor of 'or elses' because of 'God says sos'." Again, he just shakes his head. Now it's time for /him/ to eat another cookie. Nom. "You aren't in some sort of immediate trouble, are you?" Danny wonders aloud, glancing up like a Grand Host of angels might immediately swoop down and decimate his shop. ... Time to put up angel wards.

A slow nod from Rese, but she doesn't say anything else - simply concentrates on finishing up her cookie as she looks back and forth betwen the two men.

Strangely (or not, depending on how much knowledge they have of angels), Isiael doesn't express any real interest in the cookies. "No," he answers, though it's in a manner that suggests uncertainty. "Not of the kind you're thinking. Call it a forced leave of absence." His mouth twists in an unhappy frown, though, and he looks over toward Rese. "What are the troubles you are having?"

The book what was moved for Isiael's benefit is promptly closed, and spun back around. "All the same, I'm going to set up some protection," says Danny, gesturing to the ceiling, what is lined with sigils and runes and the like. "I may need your help with that. I don't mind you stopping in, but I don't really care for your more grumpy siblings."

Her attention follows his direction upwards tothe ceiling, and Rese studies the various sigils and glyphs before looking down again. "Is there a way to block everyone but one of... anything?" she saks carefully. 'I always thought these things were sort of a... a 'catch all' sort of thing... I mean, I could be wrong," she adds quickly. "I justhadn't heard of any that held... exceptions. That's usually when you woudl get bit in the ass, right?"

Isiael looks up at the ceiling, then to the windows and doors. "Yes," he answers, but if it's to Danny or Rese, it's hard to say. He lets that linger for a moment as he considers, then he explains: "I can help you write ones that will hide this place from all angels, including me, or ward it against angels, including me. I can't write one with exceptions unless you want to write ones for each individual angel, and that could take a very, very long time."

Worrying at her lowerlip, Rese shifts a bit uncomfortably. "Right," she says at last, pushing away from the wall. "Angels and... and things like that...." Like what? She shakes her head a bit. "I'm going to head out to the Light house," she says with a firmer nod. "Um... Right. Let me know..." What? "Right." She gives herself a shake, a low laugh escaping, a hand going back through her hair. "Enjoy the cookies," she adds to Danny. "Let me know if you find anything else." Pause. "YOu should have one or two as well,' she adds to the angel before starting towards the door.

Danny thumbs towards Isiael. "All or nothing, practically. The idea is to prevent sudden entry, but still allow them to walk through the front door. Because I can bar people from entering the front door." A wave to Rese, and he hands a cookie to Isiael so the Hunter will be mollified on the way out. It won't go straight to your thighs, Issy, so eat. "I'll call you if anything turns up."

"I don't--" And, he's handed a cookie. The angel looks down at it like it's a sort of strange and foreign object, turning it over a couple of times. At least he gets -that- hint (or perhaps he just thinks of it as some human custom), but either way he takes a bite out of the thing, chewing and swallowing it rather mechanically. "--anyway, I could help you. You could... split one of the wards by the front door, so when it is open it is broken."

"That sounds like a fair enough idea for now." The idea is mulled over, and eventually Danny figures he doesn't really have a better idea for the moment, short of warding the building in its entirety, which would leave poor Isiael out in the cold. Like a soggy kitten. Heh. "I should have all of what's needed in the back. I'm hoping this is just me being unnecessarily paranoid, but I'd really rather not take any chances."

"I can see why humans like these," Isial comments while moving 'round the counter, looking down at the cookie. "They are ... surprisingly edible." Well, that's a compliment, one might suppose. He stuffs the rest of the thing in his mouth, finishes it, and then says, "We just need knives. I'll show you how it's done."

Can angels get fat? Probably not. Danny certainly hasn't seen a fat angel, at any rate. "Delicious, but not really that great for a person's health. Though I doubt you have to worry about that." And Danny too, for that matter. But shh. "Is this a blood seal you have in mind? Because I can't exactly have blood all over my walls. It'll scare away customers. Unless I can find a way to hide it..." Hrm. And thinking of such, he goes to the back to scare up some knives.

Oh, right. Humans tend to be kinda squeamish about that sort of thing. Isiael cocks his head to the side, thoughtfully. "We can carve them," he says, "But they will be permanent. Or brand them." He looks up at the ceiling, considering all the sigils and marks already drawn there. "But I do think that doing so won't be necessary. My brothers are annoyed at me, but they do not wish me dead."

Not really thrilled at the idea of marking up his store even more, less make it bleed, Danny instead returns with a pencil and legal pad, which he proffers to Isiael. "How about you just write down some instructions, and I'll prepare them should it become necessary. Which hopefully it won't," he says, echoing the angel's hopeful optimism. "By the way... What was it that Nyx wanted you to get?" Curiosity wins.

Isiael finds a seat somewhere, and begins drawing symbols on the page. He's careful, but they are clearly long-committed to memory, as he sketches out the complicated symbols with ease, though at length he reflects some discomfort at doing so. As he's doing so, he says, "You will put these around the perimeter. At least one or two on every wall, floor, or ceiling." And, at the question, he digs out the paper from his pocket and slips it over to Danny, allowing him to read it while he's writing. Good grief, there's a lot of those.

Reading aloud, Danny's brows lift, eyes narrowing. "A stone?" That's a deadpan. "From a very specific spot, at a very specific time." He pauses again, shaking his head. "She asked you to travel back in time to fetch a /stone/?" The slip of paper is placed on the desk with a short sigh. Whatever. "There are a lot of stones I can think of that would be very bad if someone powerful should get their hands on them. What did the stone look like? Did it have writing on it? Was it Tibetan? Please tell me it wasn't."

Isieal looks a little troubled, even as he finishes the drawings and slides the paper across to Danny. "I haven't gone back to get it yet," he admits. "The ...events... of the other day were trying. Like I said, my powers aren't unlimited. To go back in time is a lot of effort. I needed to recover a little before trying a trip like that, unless I wanted to risk getting stranded. Or worse." He looks up towards Danny, then. "What are your concerns?"

"My concerns may be unfounded," says Danny, with heavy emphasis on 'may.' "There are these things called 'mani' stones in Tibetan Buddhism. They're inscribed with mantras, and generally used for prayer and that sort of thing." But, the crossing of his arms and shake of his head indicate a big 'however' is coming. "However..." Oh, there it is! "Some have real power, or so the legends say. Particularly the Cintamani stone, which can manifest whatever one wishes. It's somewhat similar to the idea of a tulpa, but is an actual artifact with a lot, a /lot/ of lore tied up around it. Supposedly it rests hidden in Shambhala or Shangri-La. Precisely where it should stay. I've hypothesized that lesser mani stones might hold clues to its location. But I haven't exactly backpacked across the Himalayas so haven't had the opportunity to test the theory."

Isiael has an expression on his features that look awfully like a human getting a headache, but that's not really possible with angels. "So, at least all of this is coming together," he says, dryly. Hey, he does have a bit of a sense of humor! Will wonders never cease. "So the reason she took that thing is because she knew that it would get one of us to come after it, and then she could use us to get these... stones... that she wants." Blegh.

Danny just shrugs. "It would certainly explain why I haven't heard of this individual stone she wants. If it's just a mani stone, there are easily thousands of them in existence, some of which are just rocks with prayers carved on them. No reason to keep track of." At this point he actually, spins around Isiael's drawing so he can examine it in more detail. "But this /is/ all conjecture. Obviously we have no idea of knowing what she's after right now."

The glyphs are all done in detail, which is sort of impressive given that it didn't take him long to write it; then again, enochian is the angelic language, so. "Angel proofing," Isiael supplies, as though it wasn't obvious. "--well. Once I'm prepared, I'll go take a look at it. I'd--" Here, he looks troubled again. "I need to get that thing away from her, though."

"She didn't seem like a typical demon," provides Danny with a frown. "If she was really a demon at all. I'm so used to looking at them, I just kind of assumed. But if she really /is/ the Nyx of legend..." A soft grunt, and the man pushes himself up to lean against the wall, glancing back towards the storage room. "She's probably at least as powerful as your average angel, if not more." But, again, he shrugs. "It didn't look like she had randomly possessed a body. But still, conjecture."

"I don't think she was a demon, not exactly. She's working with them, though, which makes her bad enough. She clearly has enough power to control them." The angel furrows his brows and looks back over towards the paper, though it seems to be more just to have something to focus on than anything. "If it was a vessel, it had been one she's been used to for a long time. New ones take time to get used to."

"Well, there's always the pagan deity angle." Grabbing up his book, the shopkeeper steps back into the storage area, presumably to place the item back on a shelf. "But that's all I can offer you at the moment. The problem with mysterious luminaries is they're that mysterious." There's a pun in there Isiael can hear Danny chuckling about.

Isiael just sighs. "Yes, it is," he agrees. Whoosh goes the pun over his head. Should it really be surprising? He stands, though, and considers the words with a deep frown. "I'll bring the object here before I bring it to her," he says for Danny's benefit, but by the time Danny gets back to the main area, the angel is gone. Not one for goodbyes, are they?