1 She looks at him... and starts laughing, covering a wide range of maniacal sounds... finally running out of air to make noise, but her body continues to shake. Her eyes go wide and her back arches. It's apparent that she cannot breathe... "Swell." Plots says with a grimace, picking her up and setting her down on the table, trying to keep her from hurting herself. "Hey Garret!" he turns to the Mage next to him. "You better be able to save her, because I'm underqualified. Again." A incredible amount of fustration burns behind his features. Before anyone can (or needs to) do anything, her straining body suddenly relaxes, and she gasps in some frantic breaths of air. And -then- she starts crying. 2 Gegi begins coughing, then, a rather nasty cough with lots of rattling phlegm and spasms that leave her gasping for air, finally sinking into a nearby chair, rocking back and forth, her eyes crazed. Garret, still clutching the shard of bone in hand, shudders. Slowly, he crosses the distance between them, and kneels down in front of Gegi. Raising the bone shard, he touches her forehead lightly, then sits back, his eyes going vague and unfocused. His face seems to age. He runs his hand through his hair, then looks back up at Plots, his face frighteningly unreadable. "She...*we*...need the kind of help I'm not equipped to give. Her Dharma..." he shakes his head and curses softly. "Old debts..." he says under his breath. "Old debts always have to be paid." He turns back to Gegi. "Listen to me, Gegi. I know someone that might be able to help us, but you have to come back to me and help me. Can you do that? Please?" She looks up at him, tears beginning to streak her face. "Don't you see? There's nothing anyone here can do... because I'm not -real- here. I don't belong here. I won here before... but once I was back there, it didn't count... nothing counts, I'm not really here... there is no way out." He reaches forward, takes hold of her shoulders, and shakes her violently. "Stop it! If you really believe that, then I can't help you, and you might as well put out the goddam welcome mat for Dagon and have done with it! Maybe you don't think you have anything to lose, but there's a woman here I love more than anything else in the universe, and I *am not* just going to lay down and die! I NEED YOUR HELP, GODDAMN IT!" For a moment, she just stares at him, lip trembling, obviously on the verge of completely collapsing into a hysterical crying fit. Then, she closes her eyes. Her body stops shaking. She takes a few careful breaths. When she opens her eyes again, the tears immediately resume, and her voice is choked. "What can I do?" She's struggling, and doesn't seem to be able to stop crying entirely, but she's fighting off the breakdown. For the moment. He lets go of her shoulders and leans back a bit. "You have pieces of the puzzle I don't. I know you're not lying to me when you tell me you don't know who that woman was, but I *also* know you're not telling me everything you know. So in case you don't have the whole picture, let me lay it out for you. You, her," he points to Chloe, "and I are all wrapped up in one another's Dharma now. I don't know whether she did it or wether it just happened, but there it is. Whatever's waiting for you is now waiting for us too. I need you to tell what you know, or what you *suspect*. Then I need you to stay coherent so that I can call for help and you can both help me figure out a course of action." She nods, still crying. "She was... evil. Something terribly evil. She felt like the demons felt. Besides having Dagon in my head, there was the one we fought that didn't attack me even though it nearly killed everyone else, and the gremlin in the dream world, and the imp at the old man's house. They -like- me. They keep turning up... and he said that it wasn't the last time a demon would come to me... nor the last time I would go to a demon." She brushes a hand across her wet face, accomplishing very little except getting her hand wet as well. He closes his eyes and tries to calm down. "All right, that's a start. We still need to figure out why Chloe is involved, and how it ties into me. Some help is on the way... but how reliable it's going to be is anyone's guess." Gegi sniffles. "It's me they're after. You two just happened to be there. Get rid of me, get rid of the problem. I'm not all the way here anyway... just kind of stuck in between. I'm so sorry..." He looks to Chloe. "Neither one of you is exactly what you appear to be. Especially you, Chloe. I don't know what secrets you're both hiding, and I wouldn't care, but they're now starting to affect *me*. Do you understand?" Chloe, for the first time while looking at him, looks uncomfortable and steps back from both of them. "No, I don't understand! None of this -- though I can't say I even know what this is -- none of it is my fault! None of it is my doing! I am exactly what I appear to be, though I am beginning to think I'm the only one here who is!" She takes a deep, shaky breath, glances quickly at her tightly clenched fist, and puts both her hands behind her back, frowning. "She's scared, Garret. She doesn't understand." Gegi turns to Chloe. "You trust me, don't you?" "Yes... oh," Chloe flashes a quick look to Garret and whispers, "That lady did that too, only hers started black then turned silver then blue.." Gegi looks confused. "Did what?" 3 Gegi and Plots are talking. "But I cry at the drop of a hat, really. Another sign of a manipulative individual." "Because people take pity on you easier, and will downplay any trouble you may have caused?" "Right. Although eventually I got too old to pull it off effectively... but then there were other ways." She grins impishly. He rolls his eyes. "Bat your eyelashes and flirt?" "What, do I look like a flirt?" She smiles. "If it works, go with it." Plots sighs. "I know a lot of people like that. Some are *really* good at what they do." "I'm not, I'm too shy... except, as before, with gamers and netfolk. And there are often few enough females in those categories..." She grins. "Only three in the entire gaming club at Duke. Sheesh." Then she laughs. "What, having a mental collapse in public isn't manipulative?" "To a point, but after a while it gets redudant. People would just as soon throw you in a looney bin as actaully help you." She winces. "That would be the problem, yes." "Which then begs the question: Do you accept the responsiblities of your manipulations?" "How do you mean? Recognize that it's all my fault?" She laughs. "No, not really. I mean if you try to manipulate somebody, and they wind up getting in trouble or something, would you step forward to accept the responsibility? Or would you lurk back in the shadows and watch them take the fall for you?" "I think I need a more specific example... I'm not finding a good translation." "Okay. You want to get driven to the mall. So, you talk to a friend and basically plant the idea in his head to drive you, even he has to work. So he drives you over, gets to work late, and gets yelled at. Because he thought it was his idea to drive you, he feels it's his own fault. Now, do you step up and tell him the truth, or do you remain silent so he won't be resistant to driving you around at a later time?" She hedges. "I can't -make- someone do something. It's not like I'm possessing them or anything. Just persuading. I'd feel guilty and apologize, but that in itself tends to be a little manipulative. I try to warn people that I'm likely to use them. People don't tend to take those warnings seriously." Plots gives a disarming smile. "If you've manipulated someone, than you _did_ make them do something. Not with blunt force, true, but it was your hand that moved them into position." "Everyone's manipulating everyone all the time. You can't help that." "That's only true if you want to believe it." "Everything's true. And belief helps. But none of that matters. All I'm saying is that it's hard to put any -one- cause as sole responsibility for anything." "But as long as you apologize, you're showing that you _do_ recognize the your effect of people, _and_ that you're starting to take responsibility for it." "It's just strange sometimes when things turn out and you can't be sure whether or not you had anything to do with it... like the tornadoes, like the "curse" on Gabby, and all the millions of bizarre coincidences that fill my life... I never know." She laughs. "Bobby had a teacher that he absolutely hated, and one day put on his druid's robe, went out to a parking lot, and cast curses... lightning crashed all around him, all sorts of dramatic effects... next day the teacher didn't turn up and the sub said she'd been diagnosed with cancer. Gotta be careful what you wish for. But the diffrence there, of course, is that he was -trying- to do something... things happen when I try, certainly, but often when I don't, and I'm never sure if it was my fault or not." They talk of her past, and her schooling. "Some people just don't care," she says. "Everyone is going to show their feelings in a different way. Some people are incredibly compassionate, but would never show it. They do all of their work in secret, not caring for the thanks." "-Some- are. But I know very well how much -some- of those people cared." She sighs. "Stupid shallow fashionable rich kids." "Good to know you're not harboring any bitterness." He smiles. "Bitter? -Me-?" She grins. "I hold grudges for an awfully long time, I'll admit, but I'm equally loyal... I'll hold my friendships and debts just as long, even if the other party has long forgotten. And I -do- forgive. When it's deserved." "What consitutes that?" "Well, asking helps." 4 Chloe is screaming at the people in the Pub as if they were slavering monsters, but behaving with bizarre sweetness to Gegi and Garret. "What was what all about? My eyes were stinging for a moment, but, well I think I'm all right, for now.." "That woman. Who was she? What did she say to you?" She seems to debate for a moment whether or not to talk. "I don't know who she was, but I think she knew me. So strange, she kept calling me 'little one', so maybe she knew me when I was young." Gegi seems surprised by this. "Maybe I just happened to be here?" she mumbles to herself. "Do you remember anyone like her?" "No, but..." Chloe then motions for Gegi to come within whispering distance so that only she and Garret, whom she's still clinging to, can hear. "She just said..." she bites her lip, "she just said something about being worried about me and that I should be careful around here." "Uh-huh." Gegi, now closer, looks into Chloe's eyes. "You said your eyes were stinging? Can you see all right now? Things a little blurry, out of focus, maybe? Light hurting?" "I can see fine, everything's clear. I don't think light hurts, but its so dark in here anyway.." "I see." She turns to Garret. "Not that I'm an expert, but with the light level in here, her pupils shouldn't be dilated like that unless she'd gotten something in her eyes or was on some heavy drugs. And she certainly shouldn't be able to see right. Chloe, what happened just before your eyes started hurting?" Chloe shakes her head. "Nothing. I have to go. They're going to hurt me..." "We're not going to let anyone hurt you," Gegi says firmly, catching Garret's eye. "That's very kind of you Gegi, but that still makes it only three against 5." "So they're not -all- after you? Which ones are the bad ones? I can't tell..." She nods. "I know what you mean, I think its easier, and safer, to just conclude that they're all bad. And certainly they all look like they're wondering what my insides look like, but it's hard to concern oneself with just fangs or threatening looks when those Garou are still around... and him of course," she motions to the blond man with the cross. Gegi blinks. "Who's he? What'd he do? I must have missed him coming in..." "He just came in and hit the lady, the one Garret's so worked up about. She fell to the floor, blood and everything. And he just blanketly denied it when I reacted! Then, when he offered me his hand, I thought it would be rude not to shake it, but.. he seized mine and tried to sink his fangs into my wrist.." "I -definitely- missed that. Okay. You stay here with us until we figure out what's going on. You'll be all right." 5 Garret gets up. The look in his eyes is desperate, like a cornered animal. He goes over to the bar and retreives his bag. rummaging around inside it, he brings out a small silver coin. He holds it up to the light and concentrates for a moment. There's a small flash of light, and the coin vanishes. Mages nearby feel a small pulse of Correspondence/Mind magick. He dumps his bag back behind the bar and goes back over to Gegi, hunkering down in front of her again. "He's on his way. If he can't help us, then I don't know who can." The man with the metallic cat looks at them speculatively. "If you need help, guys, you will have to start making sense. Does Gegi suffer from Nephandic exposure? I have seen this happen many times over in deep space, and maybe I can do something?" Garret, who's just finished shaking Gegi, sags against her chair. He's sweating and white. "More and more is coming back," he says in a sort of answer, "And the more I see, the less I want to understand." He looks up at the man. "She, Frederick," he points to Gegi, "Is demon-tainted, and she's from a reality that doesn't seem to completely mesh with ours. Now, for some reason, her Dharma is crossing both mine and Chloes, forming...I guess you could call it a knot. I don't know what's holding us all together, except that I'm starting to remember things I don't want to remember...and I think it may have something to do with me. I don't know enough yet." Garret shakes his head. "When my friend gets here-" "He is here, Dark One!" comes a booming voice from the front door. Standing in the Doorway is a handsome young man of obvious gypsy extraction, with raven's-wing hair, dusky skin, and green eyes. He wears a loose, white shirt, open to the navel, black pants, and a colorful sash with many silk pouches and a knife around his waist. He's barefoot, and moves with the sensual, careless grace of a dancer. Garret gets to his feet. "Welcome, Lachesis. Thank you for coming." The gypsy gives a graceful, sweeping bow that Kao-liang might well envy. "Always ready for the challenge of advanture, oh Master of Death and Icky things!" Gegi, who, distracted by the entrance, seems to have forgotten to cry, smiles at the 'Icky things'. He starts to walk towards Garret, then stops just short, looking at him carefully. "You have changed, Timeless One. There is more wisdom and less bitterness in your heart. Why, I wonder?" He takes a deck of cards from one of his pouches and shuffles them, then picks one seemingly at random, looks at it, and smiles. Garret remains quiet, with a sort of half-smile on his face. Lachesis then flips the card forward so that Garret can see it. It's the Queen of Cups, and depicted on the card is a marble throne, and sitting on it is Rhiannon, clad in a pure white gown. In one hand, she holds forth a jewelled goblet, and the other is extended palm-up in invitation. Lachesis smiles knowingly and returns the card to the deck. "But enough of that. you have called, and I am here, hey? Let it never be said the Rom do not pay their debts, even to Gaje." "Let it never be said." Echoes Garret sardonically. "Lachesis, I need your skills in seeing the ways of destiny." He gestures towards Gegi and Chloe. Lachesis sweeps past Garret and bows to both of them. "Good eventide, young beauties! I am Lachesis the Bold, and I am at your command!" Attempting not to be conscious of her reddened and tear-streaked face, she smiles and inclines her head to him. "Stars light your path, good sir. I am called Gegi." Garret rolls his eyes skyward. 6 Without warning, the air in one corner of the Pub seems to fissure, as a jagged crack opens almost from the floor to the ceiling with an electrical hissing noise; bluish light seems to shine out of it. Within a few seconds, the crack bulges, seeming almost to rotate, into a circular hole in the air, through which steps - almost stumbling in his haste - a tall man dressed in black clothing holding a long cylindrical object in one hand. As soon as he has passed through, the 'hole' collapses in on itself, and disappears into a mote. He stands about 7' tall, and is slender - if anything, too slender for his height. He has long black hair which falls over his pointed ears, and is caught back by a silver clip to hang to the middle of his back in a complex braid. His eyes are a peculiar colour - the irises are silver - and set in a face that is all planes and angles, too much so to be considered handsome. His complexion is pale, and a scar runs from under his right ear along the angle of his jaw, which he fingers absently. His canine teeth are slightly pointed. He is wearing a loose open-fronted black robe embroidered with a silver geometric pattern along the hem over a black shirt and trousers, from under which at the left a silver-bound sword hilt can be seen. He has a heavy gold seal-ring on his right hand. Looking around, he appears to be rather surprised to be here. He voices a quick phrase to anyone listening in a language which sounds vaguely Latinate. Having done that, he raises the cylindrical device, now revealed to be about 3' long and 6" in diameter, and having a large crystal mounted at one end. He fiddles briefly with the sextant-like controls at the other end of the tube, and points it at the air ahead of him. Nothing happens, except for a few sparks. He spits out another unrecognizable phrase, but one which, from the tone, is probably an expletive of some kind. Transferring the device to his left hand, he mutters a few words and makes a half-circle gesture in the air in front of him with his right, looking expectantly ahead. Again, nothing happens. At all. He tries again a few times in swift succession, sounding more and more irritated and panicked each time, but soon gives up, and stands there alternately staring at the air which obstinately remains air, and looking at his hand as if it has betrayed him somehow. He is approached by the elegantly-dressed man who once conversed with Chloe and more recently, Rhiannon. The similarities between the two are striking. Rhiannon's associate introduces himself as Kao-Liang and proceeds to settle on Latin as a reasonably understandable language between the two of them. Gegi and Gabby, who have just emerged from a side room, watch the exchange. Gegi blinks with sudden realization and whispers something to the other girl, who nods slowly. The two approach, Gabby in the lead. The strange man speaks in fluidly-accented Latin. "My greetings, ladies." With this, he bows in his best courtly manner. Gegi makes the best curtsey she can in pants, Gabby just stands there. Gabby speaks, in Latin, with the bad accent you expect from learning it in a modern high school... "Hello? Who are you?" "I am Astarial, of the House of Cyprium and Claves. Might I have the pleasure of knowing your names?" There is a brief pause, then Gegi whispers something to Gabby, who speaks. "I am Gabrielle, and this is Georgina. Are you.... of my people?" He sighs. "I'm not sure, partly because I'm not sure who your people are. You certainly resemble one of my people, but even in legend I've never heard that any of us have left our homeworlds before. I could know for certain, but" "something seems to be blocking my Sight. I think it might be that man over there..." He gestures to the blond man with the cross that Chloe met earlier. "What kind of sight, sir?" A longer pause. "If this is not your world, then you have left your world, so your kind can leave your world. But this is my world." Astarial shakes his head. "Wait a minute! How can I be over there, when I'm over here?!" "Time splits. The time here is strange. It doesn't always connect." 7 Dreams and wishes, magic and whimsy, that's what it's all about. Seeing someone preparing to leave, a little curly-haired girl gasps and runs across the floor in a tackle hug line for his legs, "Unca John!", but she never quite collides. Barely a meter from him two hands grab her about the waist and hoist her high into the air causing her to squeal with glee and break into giggling. A man stands there, bare-foot and six, waves of dark brown hair flowing down the back of his army coat, faded and torn blue jeans matched by slightly less torn tie-died t-shirt (fluorescent yellow) embossed with the sentiment, "Only visiting this planet." He smiles and, though his light beard and dark tunnelling eyes would usually inspire foreboding, you can't help but think of a sunrise after the longest night. It is Michael Edge. There is no sense of arrival, no parting of space, no warping of time, he simply is as he has been, here. It feels right. Perhaps (just perhaps) those with a heart for music may get a sense that a melody that had always been in the background is suddenly joined by another, yet not another. As if a single voice is singing harmony with itself, and the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. It is Michael Edge. He spins the little girl around, mid-air, to face him and smirks, "Leave the old man alone, you little minx..." She just continues giggling while he tucks her under his arm, and holds out his hand, "Balinok? I'd like you to meet my... Sister", he hardly pauses but the smirk widens as he says it, "Shelley... I hope she hasn't annoyed you too mu... Arrrggh!" He suddenly exclaims and drops the girl who, giggling, falls lightly on her feet latches herself back onto Balinok's leg, "Tell him I've been good, Unca John!" Michael just shakes his head in amusement as he rubs his arm, teethmarks fading, before holding his hand out to Balinok once more, "Goodbye, old friend... I won't keep you from your way. If you see Yelyana, say hi..." Gegi blinks, suddenly looking at him curiously. He smiles warmly, "Be seeing you..." He kicks Shelley lightly, "Off him, scallywag...", and she poutingly obliges, backing away from John and making tiny half-waves with her hand. "Bye bye... Nice to meet you..." before she giggles again and ducks behind Michael to hide. Michael smiles into the night before turning to face the rest of the pub. Gegi stares at him in confusion. <*I know you from somewhere... somehow...*> Michael meets her gaze with calm friendship, a smile of warmth and knowing, "Synth....", he starts to greet and then suddenly stops, echoing her confusion, "You aren't Synthea." Then she smiles at Shelley. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your... brother?" Shelley giggles, obviously greatly amused by the encounter, "This is my brother Mikey, Mikey Edge.", she spins, swirling her dress prettily in pride at private knowledge, "Michael, this is Gegi..." He blinks and looks at her strangely, like a man told all his life of the sea while living in a desert, finally confronted by reality. He blinks again, putting his hands out as if to steady himself on something that isn't there. "Woah... Gegi? Wow...", his grin returns as he smiles at her warmly and runs a hand through his hair, before remembering his manners and reaching it out to offer her. He repeats himself, "Wow! This is so bizarre... What brings you slumming around here?" Gegi looks at his hand and laughs. "Michael -Edge-?" Shelley giggles and walks off to find someone interesting to talk to. Family is so dull. And part of me is missing, something good has gone away. 8 "Well, asking helps," says Gegi to Plots. "Oh. Yeah, I guess that would make sense." "It was the oddest thing... there were a few girls, two years younger than I, that I hadn't spoken to in years... different ages don't see each other much. And all of a sudden one stopped the conversation, stared at me, and started profusely apologizing for how rotten she'd been to me when she was in fifth grade." She smiles. "People can be cool sometimes." Plots nods with a smile. "Sometimes, it just dawns on us to tie up some loose end." "I couldn't agree more," a ghostly figure states from behind him. Odd, she wasn't there a minute ago. Plots starts in surprise, then sighs and turns around. He looks at her, a glowing phantom, and sighs. "Hi, Mandy." He says with a dry chuckle. She smiles at him, then steals a look at Gegi. "We need to talk, Plots." She turns back to him. "Is there someplace, more...private?" She glances around at the various patrons. "I'd rather not discuss this in public." Plots doesn't look happy by this, but merely nods, and motions to one of the soundproof rooms. "That should do." He climbs up one of the ladders, Mandy following behind him. The door shuts, and locks. Gegi stares after them curiously. After a short\long while, depending on your time perspective, the door to the upstairs room finally unlatches and opens. Plots climbs down the ladder and heads over to his bag. Mandy is nowhere to be seen. "Make peace with my past, huh?" He mumbles to himself, checking over his belongings, then slinging the bag over his shoulder deftly. Turning to the pub in general, he gives a nod. "Well, I'll say goodbye to all of you first. And this place in general. It's been real, but I never was one for sitting still." His voice isn't depressed, happy, or any extreme. Merely neutral, and honest. "But first, I need to make my rounds." He moves to each of his friends, bidding them farewell in turn. Finally, he turns to Gegi. "And last, and debately least." He grins. She smiles and playfully swats him on the head. "Seriously, thanks a lot Gegi. You've been a lot of fun to talk to. You're not a Sleeper, but hey, nobody's perfect." His eyes are tinged with an irony at that statement. "Anyway, thanks for listening, and talking. I learned a lot about myself that way. It's strange, I know, but my life usually is." He gives her a friendly hug. "Try not to destroy the world too soon, promise? It'd ruin my plans." She hugs him back. "I hope your plans involve showing up here again... but if not, good luck..." He gives a general nod of respect to those he missed, or didn't get a chance to met. As he heads to the door, he stops and looks to the jukebox. "Make peace..." he mumbles again. He takes over his Hard Rock Cafe cap and tosses it over, landing it squarely on top of the jukebox. He nods to himself again, and leaves. She watches him go and sings softly to herself, "Cause things are gonna change, so fast..." 9 Garret and Gegi are discussing their problems. Chloe sneaks quietly up. "Um, Gegi? Does this have to do with that lady who was here... because we never really did clear things up about her. I feel like there's other - bigger - scarier," she glances around at a few key intimidating residents of the pub, "things, but maybe we should ask her to come back if you really need her help? I was going to wait until things got worse, but if you think..." her voice drifts off. One of her hands is clenched tightly. Gegi looks at Chloe curiously, having rather forgotten about her in the confusion. Suddenly her eyes widen. "No! Don't!" She reaches for the clenched hand. Chloe quickly backs up and puts both hands behind her back. "Ok.. ok. I was just trying to help..." Gegi spreads her hands in the I'm-not-armed gesture, trying to calm down. "Chloe, the woman who talked to you was bad. Very bad. She's one of the scary demon people that's been chasing me. Remember I told you about breaking the circle with the witch-people I was with? I think they sent her after me. She's -not- your friend. Using whatever she gave you would be very, very bad. Okay?" "I never said she was my friend, I don't even know her. How do you know she's evil, though? Did you recognize her?" "I sensed it." She taps her head. After a moment, Chloe mutters, avoiding eye contact, "And you don't have to talk to me like I'm a child. I may not know about all these divine and supernatural things, but.. I can handle it. you know." She smiles and tries to make light of it. "I'm not talking to you like you're a child. I'm talking to you like you're standing on a ledge. There's a difference." Garret looks at the two of them. "What is that?" He, too, starts to reach for Chloe's hand. There is a sudden *zap* noise, and Garret is left cradling a hand burned red and black, with an expression more of surprise than of pain. 10 A small -thing-, looking like a reptilian zombie bird, sits in the Pub. Those who see it look on it with disgust, except for Rhiannon, who is comforting it. Chloe looks over to the bane, and a smile slowly breaks across her face. She giggles slightly. "What on earth is this?" she asks no one in general and walks over to it unhesitatingly and kneels beside it. She pats its head gently. Rhiannon draws away, uncomfortable in Chloe's presence. The bane watches Chloe's approach warily. When she touches it, it shys away, then presses against her hand. Its skin is rather cold and slightly slimy. "Pain and fear and mon..m..monsters yes monsters in the night yes?" It looks up into her face. "You see them here now here yes I don't _she_ saw them yes. Here. Otherside. Before. _They_ made her see. My fault my fault I..." Its voice trails off. Chloe looks suprised, even confused when she feels the bane's skin, but shakes it off. "I feel like I've fallen through the looking glass," she whispers. "What _are_ you?" She pets its gently, "You're quite adorable, but the gibberish... Are you frightened of the monsters? And what's your fault?" The bane seems faintly puzzled by Chloe's friendly attentions, but doesn't protest at the petting. "Frightened? Yes no I..." It looks round the Glen. "Different I...eyes? Glass looking monsters? Yes...not frightened now before yes. Not here. No monsters. Lots lots of power cold silver frightened. No power. I had before before eyes I lost her. Her eyes. _They_ did it." It pauses as if considering this, apparently feeling the explanation lacks something but not sure quite what. A long pause as Chloe tries to interpret it. "You're not frightened of these monsters?" she whispers softly. "But there were other more powerful ones?" she shudders and continues, "They - who? - took her - who? - away from you? Is it your eyes now that have the problem? Did they do something to your eyes?" After a pause the bane nods as it recatches its train of thought. "Yes. _They_ made her who who why who made _your_ eyes seeing feeling look wrong?" She shakes her head, trying to figure it out, then rubs her eyes for a moment. Looking back at the bane, "Is there something wrong with my eyes?" The bane looks confused. "Yes yes...no? _She_ looked saw through not through. Dis... dist.. distorstroy? Black green silver black." "No, black silver blue," she cuts off reflexively, then looks surprised at herself for doing so. "Ssssss..." The bane streches its neck out suddenly and hisses like a snake, flicking a forked tongue at Chloe. She knits her brow slightly at the hissing, but does no sort of reflexive jerk, she doesn't even blink, when it flicks its tongue out. She just laughs slightly and leans over to kiss the top of its head lightly, not really touching the skin. "Hurt her. _They_ did. My fault yes. Made it hurt to see. Lost her lost lost lost again again and..." The bane shakes its head and attempts to apply itself to Chloe's problem. It peers up into her face. "Eyes...backwards twisted hurt perhaps. _They_ can. Twisted round and down and round and down lots lots lots of power there yes. Can do that." It sounds doubtful. "But not here didn't see _them_." "How could anything be such a sweet little thing's fault? Where did you lose your friend? If we could find her, maybe we could find someone to fix her eyes.. doesn't that sound good?" 11 Lachesis looks up from his place on the floor to Chloe, his eyes sparkling in amusement. He fans out his cards and picks one at random, holding it up for Chloe to see. It's The Moon. It depics a barren landscape with a river flowing between two stone obelisks. In the sky is a crescent moon, and a crab emerges from the stream on the left bank. Rising from the center of the water is Chloe, in a diaphanous gown with a silver circlet on her head. Curiously, she has not one, but three separate faces, one in the center and one on each side of her head. One face is young, the other middle-aged, and the last is old. At seeing her face, and older versions of it, on the card, Chloe starts. She seems to be calmed considerably though as he speaks. "This is your card. The moon represents madness, but it is a kind of madness that grants great power. You see far, far beneath the surface of things, into their very heart, and like the moon, you are inconstant and changeable. Yours is a wisdom not easily communicated, but it is there, nonetheless. Your greatest strength is your dreams." Chloe nods, her expression serene. Almost involuntarily, "Thank you sir.." Gegi stares at Chloe with a very strange expression on her face. Hurt and anger ripple clearly through her aura, even though her shielding is still up. She takes hold of the necklace at her throat, breathes in deeply, and seems to push those feelings away. "Gegi, is something wrong?" Chloe eyes the necklace warily. "Yes. No. Does it matter?" she says tightly. "Of course it does, Gegi. What is it? I mean, is it something other than the demons chasing you and the apocalypse you're trying to stop?" She sighs. "No, just the usual problems. And we need to get that spell off you." "What spell?" asks Chloe. 12 The bane looks confused. "Yes yes...no? _She_ looked saw through not through. Dis...dist..distorstroy? Black green silver black." "No, black silver blue," Chloe cuts off reflexively, then looks surprised at herself for doing so. "Blue?" The bane sounds doubtful. "Green black? Bale...banef..cold green black cold cold power knives burning twist twisting yes?" "Chloe?" Gegi says softly. "I think you need to start telling us -exactly- what you're seeing... I believe there's something wrong with your eyes. Not your fault. I think she did something to you..." "The lady? She sort of talked in my head, but that's all. Like I was thinking in her voice, you know? Maybe it's just an overactive imagination, but it seemed pretty real. She doesn't want to hurt me, Gegi, or you. The others may, though." "They're not going to - " she starts. Then softly, Chloe continues, "You know what I'm talking about. You did it too..." Gegi blinks. Various emotions play visibly across her face. Confusion, happiness, fear, frustration, and finally worry. "I - I might have - but Chloe, she's -using- you, she's controlling your eyes, she's in your head, she's -" she stops, looking confused again. She turns away from Chloe, wrapping her arms around herself. "You're under a spell, Chloe. Believe me." The bane hisses at Chloe. She knits her brow slightly at the hissing, but does no sort of reflexive jerk, she doesn't even blink, when it flicks its tongue out. She just laughs slightly and leans over to kiss the top of its head lightly, not really touching the skin. The bane jerks back, brushing its cheek and cold beak against Chloe's lips. Gegi looks down at the bane with something in between fear and disgust. "You're definitely not seeing what I'm seeing." 13 The other cute blond girl in the Pub, the one with the baseball cap, offers Gegi some warm milk with cinnamon as she tries to relax from her hysterical fit. "Maybe you should sleep for a while," the blonde suggests. Gegi shakes her head. "With the way things are? With the demons floating around? I might wake up with someone -else- in here..." she taps her forehead. "Then we catch it and let the mages 'fix' it." "I'd -really- rather not let go of the wheel again, thanks, Illyana. Call me paranoid." "Hey, we vampires can catch demons, we both damned remember?" The laugh seems a little forced. She smiles weakly. "Tainted, yes. Damned? Maybe not. As for you being a vampire, I've -never- been quite sure on that count..." "Besides,I can always make sure you no able to hurt yourself," Illyana offers, "Trust me?" Gegi looks at Illyana again. The tears are quite gone by now, and a look of quiet determination is replacing the terror and misery. "I -do- trust you. But this is something that I have to fight myself. I beat it once here, before. On the other side, it took me over, and other people had to drive it out, and left me still with the messy remains. -I- have to win." The gypsy Lachesis stands and makes an elaborate bow to her. "Well-said. And now..." He deftly plucks a card out of his deck and shows it to Gegi. It's Strength, and it shows Gegi resolutely prying open the jaws of a black, warped lion. "Strength is your card. It represent the triumph of will that comes only from confronting one's fears, angers, jealousies, and hates. Negative emotions make us what we are, but we cannot be ruled by them. Properly channeled, the become the source of strength." He gives her another breathtaking smile. "And if I may say, you are beautiful as well as strong." Gegi smiles with a hint of a blush. Garret clears his throat. "Ah, yes, oh Master of Butterflies. I was just coming to you," says Lachesis smoothly, winking at Gegi. He shuffles the Strength card back into the deck and picks another. This one is The Hanged Man, and it depicts Garret as Odin, tied to the World Tree, his eye plucked out, his blood raining to the ground, where they form a set of runes. Strangely, the Garret on the card doesn't appear to be distressed at all, but instead seems serene and calm. "Sacrifice is your strength, oh Magus. One who can give of himself for others knows not only strength of character, but the strength of denial that comes only from sacrifice. You can bear much pain both for the sakes of others, and for the sake of knowledge." He shuffles that card back into the deck as well. "And now, some advice for all of you. You," he points to Gegi, "stand at the beginning of a path more perilous and more rewarding than you can possibly know. Know this: nothing is given without price, and the price to change the world is often greater even than one's own soul." "You," he points to Chloe, "protect yourself by not knowing yourself. This cannot be. As the moon gives way to the sun, ignorance must give way to knowledge. Both have power, but knowledge is the greater road, although it also bears more thorns." "You," he points to Garret, "have a greater force protecting you than you realize. Know this: A soul in love belongs only to itself. While that cord holds, nothing else may claim you, despite any bonds made in the past." He gives another sinuous bow. "And thus, I have discharched my obligation to you, sir Sorceror. Not it never be said that the Rom are a people who forget their debts. I wish the blessings of Daenna on you all. May your souls know what true freedom is one day." He strides confidently towards the door, but stops on the threshold, and throws over his shoulder, "Oh. One last thing. Gegi will see me again." With that, he vanishes. 14 "A hidden garden in your mind" "A flower born of womankind." "A final fearsome destiny" "A role that I am picked to be." "Powers of the inner dark" "Power from a hidden spark-" 15 Gegi and Mauritz discuss the Dark Lady, and Gegi's in-between-realities state. "There is no connection between you-here and you-there, then?" he asks. "If there were no connection, there would be no problem. I'm here, and sometimes me-there touches me-here, even though me-here can't seem to do the same, except maybe a glimpse or a fragment or something, but not -really-, and what happens to me-there becomes me-here, and me-there is in serious trouble, and me-here can't do anything about it." "A difficult situation indeed... If we could determine some short piece of advice to give you-there, perhaps you-here could project it to her. What advice to give, though?" Mauritz ponders the question. "To stand up for herself!" Suddenly the red-haired man in leathers reappears. "Let's see what I can do...", and Bavin fiddles with something inside his tunic."If I could borrow the top hat?", and he holds out a hand in a questioning way to Mauritz, who relinquishes it. "I think that...", and he feels around inside it, and pulls out some large rabbit ears. Gegi feels a strange tugging sensation on the top of her head... Bavin pulls heroically, but the ears won't come out any further. He looks over at Mauritz, "It's stuck! Why couldn't you have had a larger size head?" Bavin pulls again on the ears, which move slightly, but will not pull free. Gegi's form seems to become more solid than her surroundings, then fades slightly. She fluctuates back and forth, and then steadily becomes more and more insubstantial. Bavin looks slightly worried (although a grin still tugs at the corners of his mouth.) Suddenly, something happens. Spirit magick flashes in a burst of positive energy from Gegi's dimensional pattern. Entropy flares around her as her destiny is torn apart and rewritten in a different skein. There is a feeling as if Gegi had been moving very very fast and was suddenly slammed up against reality and brought to a halt. Gegi stands, stunned, staring.