Gegi is sitting at a table in an open-air café in the French 
Quarter. Across the table from her sits a young man, perhaps in his early 
twenties, with curly light-brown hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail. 
He is very thin and wears an old t-shirt and jeans. Gegi is dressed in a 
light, gauzy dress, appropriate for the temperature of early summer. The 
couple is sharing a plate of beignets and apparently waiting for 
something. Time stretches on. And then
"I beg your pardon.  May I join your table?" 
Gegi looks up with a smile. "Please do! Joey, this is Maxamillian Brandt 
that I told you about" Sparrow is busily licking powdered sugar off his 
fingers, but smiles and nods.
The large black man gracefully places his bulk in the small chair next to 
Sparrow and smiles his dazzling smile at Gegi.  "We meet again...I wish 
it were under better circumstances."
Her smile fades. "I just had this feeling... have you heard from Garret 
recently?"
His smile vanishes as well.  "No.  I'm not sure of the best way to say 
this." He leans back.  "Garret is dead.  He died a few weeks ago, in May. 
I'd...rather not tell you how.  It wasn't pretty, and it was worse than a 
good man deserves."
	She seems to take it reasonably well, although she squeezes 
Sparrow's (now clean and dry) hand for support. "I... are you sure? That 
he's dead, I mean, and not a captive?"
He sighs.  "Yes...and no.  That he's gone is unmistakable, but the 
circumstances surrounding his death were...strange.  He had begun acting 
strangely the day before he led the diversion against the other
Euthanatos." Seeing her confusion, he explains.  "Part of the Euthanatos 
splintered off from the main tradition several weeks ago and declared 
holy war on the other portions.  They were extremists who wanted to send 
reality as we know it through the good death.  At least, that's as I 
understand it.  The Thanatos are being *very* tight-lipped about the 
whole thing."
	"Strangely how?"
He frowns.  "No body was discovered.  That in itself is not strange, I 
don't know if you've actually seen Euthanatos sorcery in action, but it 
rarely leaves traces.  And there are the dreams I've had as well...I know 
Senex is bothered about the whole thing, but frankly, he just can't 
afford the time to look into it.  It's just feels...wrong.  Incomplete, 
somehow."
Gegi looks at Sparrow, and he nods. She continues, "I had a dream of a 
long-haired man fighting demons... they were too strong for him, so he 
called down the lightning to destroy them all... the bolt struck him, and 
buildings crumbled around them, burying everyone... but I dug and I dug 
and I could never find the bodies."
Max looks at her intently.  "Your powers have grown since I last met 
you.I had...a similar dream.  He was cornered, and he did *something*.  
Are you aware that a wizard's power 'jumps' at the time of death?  They 
become capable of things they wouldn't normally be able to do."
She nods. "I know... isn't it possible that he might have, well, thrown 
his consciousness somewhere, if it wasn't his time? And I don't think it 
was... have you searched for his spirit?"
"Senex looked, I know, and he's just as adept as I am at that sort of 
thing.  Garret's spirit is gone, presumably to it's next life."  His tone 
conveys that he has his doubts about this.  He shakes his head and plays 
with the lapel of his expensive charcoal suit.  He looks up and meets her 
eyes.  He sighs.
"No, I don't really beleive that.  *Something* is wrong."
"I knew something had happened to Garret. But I just don't feel like it's 
his -time-... that it's not over. Please, tell me what happened?"
He sighs.  "Garret was part of a strike force who were rooting out the 
Euthanatos extremists in new orleans.  He left on the morning of May 
Thirtieth from our chantry to tail an adept who he beleived was working 
for the fanatics.  It was probably a trap.  I don't know this, but they 
probably just waited for him and swarmed him.  Euthanatos aren't afraid 
to fight dirty.  And with him gone, Senex, the current Thanatos rep, 
loses a key supporter."
"What about the other traditions, though? I wouldn't think that very many 
would want to support a group working to end the world... or is that 
faction still, by honor, keeping the fight within the tradition?"
"The others have always feared and hated the Thanatos.  They can't decide 
whether to leave the deathbringers alone and let them kill each other 
off, or whether to jump in.  Voormas is not attacking any other 
traditionals right now, so they can afford to dicker about the situation."
"How helpful. Not that a full-scale mage war is a thing to be desired, 
either..."
He sighs.  "No, it's not.  But I don't think a lot of the magi are really 
thinking straight on this one.  We need the Euthanatos.  There are bad 
apples, sure, but there are a lot of good, dedicated people there.  Like 
Garret.  Not to mention that if Voormas gets control, the first thing to 
happen will be civil war." He shrugs.  "But people only hear what they 
want to hear."
She shakes her head. "I don't know..."
"I don't, either.  But I'll tell you this.  I had a dream last night 
about a man with black hair and one eye treading a silver thread through 
a vast empty space.  Then his own shadow changed into a snake and tried 
to bite him." He reaches into his pocket and takes out a picture.  It 
shows Garret in a pair of colorful swimming trunks, his hair bound up 
behind him, sitting crosslegged on a strangely dark beach.  Sitting 
beside him is Rhiannon, in a rather outrageous sequined fake-leapordskin 
bikini.  Both of them are smiling at the camera, and Garret has his arm 
around Rhiannon's shoulder. "When I woke up, I was in his old room, 
holding this. Do you know who this woman is?"
She smiles. "Rhiannon. I don't know how he got her to wear that 
ridiculous bikini. Rhi - he loves her, and she him. When the demon tried 
to steal his soul, it was their love that protected him, bound him to our 
plane... did he tell you about that?"
He frowns and looks down at the picture thoughtfully.  "Bits and pieces. 
I think he was a little ashamed.  So this is the famous Rhiannon?  She's 
practically become a legend, you know.  Half the younger Euthanatos are 
convinced she enspelled him, and the other half figure it's the other way 
around, and that Garret did it for "research value".  Not much different 
from sleeper gossip, really.  He told me about her, but I never knew what 
she looked like."
He looks up and slips the picture back into his pocket.  "Where is she now?"
"Rhi and I aren't very close." (Or as she thinks but does not say, 'Rhi 
and I don't get along.' Which isn't fair, or true, really.) "I believe 
she lives in a freehold somewhere, but other than the Pub, I wouldn't 
know where to look for her."
He frowns.  "That feels...bad.  Very bad." He sighs.  "I know very little 
about what is happening, Gegi.  I have only dreams and intuitions to go 
on.  and the Thanatos won't tell me anything, they've shut up tighter 
than Satan's underpants.  *Something* is wrong."
Sparrow stands and kisses Gegi's hand before letting go. "Love, I'm going 
to go make a phone call." She nods, and he leaves. 
	Maximillian watches him go. "You have a fine teacher there, Gegi."
Even her worry can't hide the warmth of her smile. "We're good for each 
other."