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<blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 8358056" data-attributes="member: 16760">New Scene:&nbsp; Ensconced with Fr. Leo for Reconciliation in the living room.Fr. Leo listened seriously as Pete ran through his more minor failings.&nbsp; &quot;There's... uh.&nbsp; Something else, Father.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Go on.&quot;Pete swallowed.&nbsp; &quot;I, uh.&nbsp; Saw something, when you were pulling me and Mark out.&nbsp; I saw Jamie.&quot;&nbsp; Leo's face was transfigured with compassion. &quot;Oh, Peter.&nbsp; How... did he look?&quot;&nbsp; Pete was crying freely now.&nbsp; &quot;He looked peaceful, Father.&nbsp; I don't know if it was something real, or my imagination, or what.&nbsp; But he looked at peace.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;As you are not.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;No...&quot;&quot;What is it you need to confess, my son?&quot;&nbsp; Pete sighed.&nbsp; &quot;I've been beating myself up with guilt for years now.&nbsp; And it's destructive and wrong, but I don't know how to stop.&nbsp; I just don't.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I do not know what to tell you that you have not heard many times before, Peter;&nbsp; you know that you did no wrong, though none of us would envy the lot that fell to you that night.&nbsp; But hear this:&nbsp; Our Lord wants you to have peace, the peace He came to give us.&nbsp; It is not for you to manufacture;&nbsp; you must accept it from His wounded hands.&quot;Pete pondered that for a time.&nbsp; &quot;Yeah. Maybe I'm just trying too hard.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;You always have.&nbsp; For as long as I've known you, you have felt the need to save the world all by yourself.&nbsp; You forget that it has already been saved by Another!&quot;&nbsp; After swallowing, &quot;Okay.&nbsp; So I guess I need to confess pride, too.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yes.&nbsp; Is that all?&quot;&quot;No.&nbsp; I hate Jacob, Father.&nbsp; He's my own brother, and I just plain hate him.&nbsp; I've never encountered anyone else, not even an enemy, who takes such pleasure in making me miserable.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I do not know Jacob well.&nbsp; But anyone could see that he feels the same way toward you.&quot;&nbsp; Peter flared, &quot;That's not fair! He's tweaked me for leaving the Order every chance he gets!&nbsp; What does he know about it?!&nbsp; He's never had to...&quot;Leo raised a hand to cut him off, inquiring mildly, &quot;Are you here to confess Jacob's sins or your own?&quot;&nbsp; Pete flushed.&nbsp; &quot;Mine.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Very well.&nbsp; How have you acted on this hatred?&quot;&nbsp; With a sigh, &quot;I'm cold to him.&nbsp; I try to get under his skin.&nbsp; I take pleasure in his failures.&nbsp; Just now I bad-mouthed him to my family. ... And while I think the sense of what I said was true, I did exaggerate things out of spite.&quot;The priest considered that for a time, then said, &quot;Our Lord calls you to love your brother, Peter.&nbsp; If you are unable to like him just now, so be it;&nbsp; you are not asked to generate feelings.&nbsp; Only to speak softly to him, to let provocations pass, and to help him when he is in need.&nbsp; And to pray for him without ceasing, precisely because you see him as an enemy.&nbsp; Those are things within our limited capacity.&quot;After wrestling with that for a time, Pete finally said, &quot;I guess that's it.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yes.&nbsp; For your penance, you are to tell Jacob about Jamie.&quot;Peter stared at him.&nbsp; &quot;You can't be serious.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I am completely serious.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I ... think that's beyond my strength, Father.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;I do not.&nbsp; You are poisoning yourself with guilt and giving yourself a martyr complex over it with respect to your brother.&nbsp; You must simply stop.&quot;Pete said despairingly, &quot;He'll just use it to hurt me.&nbsp; To twist the knife.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;If he does, Our Lord who forgave His enemies from the Cross will give you the strength that you need to bear it.&nbsp; Do you doubt this?&quot;After a long, shuddering silence, Pete said, &quot;...No.&nbsp; I guess not.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Then say the Act of Contrition.&quot;Peter fell on his knees and recited the ancient words.&nbsp; He had to choke them out through sobs about halfway through...&nbsp; Then Fr. Leo laid his hands upon his head and said words more mysterious and more powerful: &quot;God, the Father of mercy, through the death and resurrection of His Son, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins.&nbsp; Through the ministry of the Church may God grant you pardon and peace;&nbsp; and I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.&quot;Pete was silent under the priest's firm touch for a time.&nbsp; Then he whispered, &quot;Amen.&quot;&nbsp; Fr. Leo lifted his hands and smiled at him, then finished the rite:&nbsp; &quot;Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;His mercy endures forever. ... Thank you, Father.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;It is always a pleasure, Peter.&nbsp; Go in peace.&quot;NPC List:&nbsp; Mark, Ryan, the Demons, Goat, Billy, the disk-thing(s), the illusionist (possibly the same as the disk-thing), Thomas, Fr. Leo, Jake, darkhound pack, vampire, Jamie's memory, Teresa, Paddy, Jon, Kate.Thread List:Find out what's happening to Ryan.Protect Ryan from his old gang.Treat that damned illusionist to some payback.Free Ryan from the disk's spiritual hold.Free myself, for that matter.Take Goat down a peg or three.Make ready for the trip into Shadow.Find the guts to make a clean breast to Jake.Chaos Factor: 5 -&gt; 6New Scene:&nbsp; Mark wakes up, I think.&nbsp; Altered scene!Pete and Fr. Leo emerged from the living room to find Teresa bustling about the kitchen.&nbsp; &quot;Mark's up.&nbsp; And he's hungry.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;No surprise there.&quot;Going in the bedroom again, he found Mark talking animatedly to Thomas and Ryan.&nbsp; &quot;Pete!&nbsp; I had the most incredible nightmare!&nbsp; Never had one so vivid.&nbsp; You rescued me again...&quot;&nbsp; He sounded as if he wanted very much to believe it and looked desperately to Pete for confirmation.&nbsp; Dammit, Pete thought, Dad's going to try to bury it all again now.Q(Unsure): Does Leo spill the beans?&nbsp; NO.Fr. Leo looked to Pete for his reaction also, raising a brow.&nbsp; Peter said deliberately, &quot;It wasn't a nightmare, Mark.&quot;&nbsp; To Thomas' indignant, stricken expression, he said, &quot;I'm through lying to him, Dad.&quot;Leo beamed, Ryan looked ready to run for his life, and Mark was stunned.&nbsp; &quot;Lying to me about what?&quot;Fr. Leo beckoned to Ryan, who fled willingly enough.&nbsp; They withdrew, and soon Teresa came in.&nbsp; Pete locked eyes with his father.&nbsp; &quot;You going to tell him, or shall I?&quot;&nbsp; Mark, increasingly upset, said, &quot;Tell me WHAT?!&quot;Thomas asked plaintively, &quot;Can't we at least wait for Catherine to get home?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Dad...&nbsp; Kate's self-trained, yeah, but she's good.&nbsp; If it's important enough, she doesn't need a plane.&nbsp; Call her.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;She surely doesn't know Mobility.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;No, but she's got other tricks - she'll probably arrive at that tree in the yard she likes so much.&nbsp; Call her.&quot;Mark started to edge toward hysteria.&nbsp; &quot;Will somebody please tell me what the HELL is going on?!&quot;&nbsp; When neither of his parents corrected his profanity, he got if anything even more upset.&nbsp; Pete finally told him, &quot;Hey.&nbsp; Hang in there, bro.&nbsp; All will be explained when Kate gets here, all right?&quot;&nbsp; When Mark started to shout over him, he said, &quot;Hey!&nbsp; Two rescues are worth a little patience, aren't they?&quot;&nbsp; That shut him up.Thomas protested, &quot;Jacob should be here...&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Oh for... He'll live.&nbsp; Call her.&nbsp; Or I will.&quot;&nbsp; Cowed, his father withdrew, pulling out his cell phone.Q(Very Unlikely): Does Jake make it in?&nbsp; YES.It happened faster than even Pete would have believed possible.&nbsp; Fr. Leo (who was considerably better with Mobility than Pete was) managed to fetch Jake, and Kate managed to witch her way into Pete's yard rather than the family home.&nbsp; Pete joked wanly to her, &quot;Getting better, I see.&quot;&nbsp; She kissed his cheek.&nbsp; &quot;Thanks, big bro.&quot;Eyes widened all around:&nbsp; Jake's and Kate's at Mark's battered condition, and Mark's and Kate's at Jake's knightly tunic and surcoat - he hadn't taken the time to change being fetched from the chapterhouse.Mark, exasperated, finally said, &quot;NOW will somebody explain to me what's going on?!&quot;Thomas sighed.&nbsp; &quot;Peter, if you please?&quot;&nbsp; Pete nodded, and set his hand to Invictus' hilt, drawing it forth from its sheath.&nbsp; He reversed the blade and knelt formally, presenting the hilt to his father.&nbsp; &quot;À votre service, seigneur des Marches.&quot;Nobody breathed as Thomas gripped the hilt of Invictus, which began to glow.&nbsp; (Though it was no longer attuned to him, it always recognized the lawful Count.)&nbsp; Jake protested, &quot;Father, the tradition...&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Enough, Jacob.&nbsp; The die is cast.&nbsp; I believe Peter is right in this.&quot;Thomas looked ten years younger in the light of the sword he had loyally borne for so many years.&nbsp; &quot;Mark... Catherine.&nbsp; You already know our family's proud history as rulers of the County des Marches in Provence.&nbsp; But you do not yet know all.&quot;He began at the beginning.&nbsp; &quot;For as long as the world has been, it has cast a Shadow:&nbsp; A darkling place, full of dread and doom.&nbsp; Fell beings lurk there, thirsting for the lifeblood of all who live.&nbsp; And for as long as the world has been, there have been those called to the defense of the world itself, to man the walls of Creation.&nbsp; Our ancestors were among them.&quot;&quot;For untold ages, the Demarches have fought and bled and died in a secret war, a war on behalf of those who dare not know of it.&nbsp; Our deeds have been mostly unsung, our battles unseen.&nbsp; But God sees, and the angels sing.&quot;&quot;Twelve centuries ago, a grateful King of the Franks granted to our illustrious ancestor Bertrand, first of his name, the county we have held all the long years since.&nbsp; You surely must have wondered why our lands are called 'the Border'?&nbsp; They are not particularly close to any other nation - we were meant from the first to stand guard against the dark.&quot;&quot;And so when Holy Mother Church saw fit, three centuries later, to form the Order of St. Michael to oppose the Shadow, Bertrand's descendants were among the first to take vows.&nbsp; Every generation since, we have answered the call.&quot;&quot;When Revolution came to our homeland, we fled;&nbsp; valuing life and the needs of our war over fear of dishonor.&nbsp; We have made a new home here, in the United States of America;&nbsp; yet we are still the blood des Marches.&nbsp; The love of Provence flows in our veins, yet our love for the world is stronger yet.&nbsp; We serve, as we have always served.&quot;&quot;But though we have lost our land, we have a greater treasure yet:&nbsp; This sword, the blade Invictus.&nbsp; Unconquered, unconquerable, it cannot be broken save by its wielder breaking faith.&nbsp; It is wielded now by your brother Peter, my heir.&nbsp; Rise, Squire Peter.&quot;Pete's heart broke at the title.&nbsp; &quot;Father...&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Rise.&nbsp; And receive that which has come down to you.&quot;&nbsp; Peter rose and accepted the blade from his father's hands.&nbsp; Raising it in salute, it continued to glow;&nbsp; the mark of his inheritance.&quot;Mark and Catherine, your brothers, Peter and Jacob, have sought formation as Knights of St. Michael.&quot;&nbsp; Pete and Jake both looked ready to contest Pete's status, but Thomas quelled them both with a glance.&nbsp; He continued, &quot;You need not do the same, when you are able.&nbsp; The call must be freely heeded and freely taken up. ... Our tradition has always been to reserve this knowledge from the young until they attain to the age of twenty-one years, but circumstances have dictated otherwise in this case.&nbsp; I am sure you have questions.&quot;Mark said at once, &quot;Yeah.&nbsp; Where do I sign up?&quot;&nbsp; Teresa sobbed once, then dried her eyes;&nbsp; she had long since accepted the family she had married into.&nbsp; The boy said, &quot;I know, Mom.&nbsp; But the war's already found me, right?&nbsp; I may as well do some rescuing as well as being rescued.&quot;&nbsp; Here he grinned at Pete, who grinned back.Thomas could not contain his pride, but he strove to keep his voice neutral.&nbsp; &quot;You will have to be Confirmed first, Mark, and then likely graduate from college;&nbsp; times change, and the Order follows the Church's modern rules in these things.&nbsp; But be you faithful and true, I doubt not but that you will be accepted.&quot;Kate broke in.&nbsp; &quot;Okay.&nbsp; So the Church opposes this Shadow, I get that.&nbsp; And I think I've seen hints of it, enough to agree that it's worth opposing.&nbsp; But where does the magic fit in?&nbsp; How do you square what Pete and I do with the Catechism, Dad?&quot;&nbsp; Mark asked, confused, &quot;What you do?&nbsp; What do you mean?&quot;Thomas looked to Pete, who replied, &quot;We're mages, Mark.&nbsp; Wizards, sorcerers, whatever you want to call it.&nbsp; Some people have it, others don't.&nbsp; Kate and I do.&nbsp; And we're both damn good, if I do say so myself.&nbsp; The Demarche blood has always run strong.&quot;&nbsp; Kate had to grin at that.Mark struggled to come to terms with this.&nbsp; &quot;Do I have it?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Nope.&nbsp; And no, you almost certainly never will.&nbsp; Sorry.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;...Is that how you did the rescuing?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Yep. Along with a bit of chop-chop with Invictus here.&quot;&nbsp; He sheathed the blade.Kate waved.&nbsp; &quot;Yoo hoo.&nbsp; Still awaiting an answer here.&quot;&nbsp; Pete turned to her.&nbsp; &quot;Magic's a tool, a technology.&nbsp; There ARE evil things that can be done with it, things that the Church forbids.&nbsp; Both experience and Divine Revelation have shown that some things are simply never worth doing, are outrages against human nature.&nbsp; Trying to contact the dead, for example.&nbsp; Or trafficking with spirits. Or predicting the future.&nbsp; Things like that inevitably corrupt the people who try them, no matter how pure their motives are in the beginning.&quot;Kate's eyes narrowed.&nbsp; &quot;So because I talk to fairies, I'm a witch and a sinner, is that it?&nbsp; Suffer not the witch to live?&quot;&nbsp; Pete rolled his eyes.&nbsp; &quot;Fairies aren't spirits, sis.&nbsp; Sheesh, you're powerful, but you just don't KNOW much.&nbsp; You need training, I keep telling you that.&quot;&nbsp; Kate blinked several times at that.Mark held up a hand.&nbsp; &quot;Wait, wait, wait.&nbsp; Fairies?!&quot;&nbsp; Pete laughed, and even Thomas cracked a smile.&nbsp; &quot;Okay, look.&nbsp; The world casts a Shadow, right?&nbsp; But two things are needed to make a shadow - a light source, and the object that obstructs it.&nbsp; Opposite the Shadow is the Light.&nbsp; It's a source of life and energy and magic;&nbsp; the Shadow is a sink.&nbsp; Nothing lives in the Light itself - complicated! - but some things live here that have metabolisms based directly on the flow of Light.&nbsp; Traditionally we call them fey, but fairies will do.&nbsp; They're just people, like us, only generally more powerful.&nbsp; Some of them are decent folks, others are jerks, and a few are real scumbags.&nbsp; Heck, you know how in the Arabian Nights some djinni are good Muslims?&nbsp; That happens to be true.&nbsp; And some fey are good Christians too.&quot;Kate was flabbergasted.&nbsp; &quot;Next you'll tell me there's an Archbishop of Faerie!&quot;&nbsp; Pete looked to Thomas, the history professor.&nbsp; &quot;That was tried in the 15th century, wasn't it?&quot;&nbsp; Thomas paused to remember.&nbsp; &quot;1437, as I recall.&nbsp; The Protestant Reformation bollixed things up so badly in Faerie that the title's mostly honorary these days, attached to the Primate of Ireland.&quot;&nbsp; Pete grinned at Kate's rising confusion.&nbsp; &quot;See, one thing you really can blame the Protestants for!&quot;Everyone was shocked when Kate suddenly burst into tears.&nbsp; Teresa went to embrace her, and when she started to calm, Pete (her favorite brother) asked her gently, &quot;Kate?&nbsp; What's wrong?&quot;&quot;What's WRONG?!&nbsp; You all let me think I had to choose!&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Choose between what?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;Between my faith and what I AM!&quot;&nbsp; Nobody had a reply to that.&nbsp; Thomas' voice trembled as he said, &quot;Catherine...&quot;&nbsp; Kate fought free of her mother and spat out, &quot;Don't start, Dad.&nbsp; Just don't even start.&quot;&nbsp; She stormed out.Thomas started after her, but Jake (of all people) stopped him.&nbsp; &quot;Let her go, Dad.&nbsp; She needs to work through a bunch of stuff, but she'll come back.&nbsp; I did, didn't I?&quot;&nbsp; Pete looked at his brother with a faint spark of appreciation.&nbsp; Aloud he agreed, &quot;She's a Demarche.&quot;Q(Likely):&nbsp; Does Leo take care of Kate?&nbsp; EXCEPTIONAL YES.Thomas bit his lip, then also agreed. &quot;She's a Demarche.&quot; Then, to Peter, &quot;I can see it's past time we rethought some family traditions.&quot;&nbsp; Mark inquired conversationally, &quot;So, you're telling me this family has ALWAYS been crazy?&quot;Everyone laughed hysterically at that, draining off a great deal of tension.&nbsp; Helpless with mirth, Pete and Jake leaned on each other... then mutually recoiled when they came to themselves enough to realize it.Meanwhile Teresa added pungently, &quot;If the ones I've known are any indication...&quot;&nbsp; Quoting the Bard, Thomas said, &quot;I'll stop thy mouth,&quot; and kissed her thoroughly to whoops from the boys.NPC List:&nbsp; Mark, Ryan, the Demons, Goat, Billy, the disk-thing(s), the illusionist (possibly the same as the disk-thing), Thomas, Fr. Leo, Jake, darkhound pack, vampire, Jamie's memory, Teresa, Paddy, Jon, Kate.Thread List:Find out what's happening to Ryan.Protect Ryan from his old gang.Treat that damned illusionist to some payback.Free Ryan from the disk's spiritual hold.Free myself, for that matter.Take Goat down a peg or three.Make ready for the trip into Shadow.Find the guts to make a clean breast to Jake.Chaos Factor: 6 -&gt; 5</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Shadow, post: 8358056, member: 16760"] New Scene: Ensconced with Fr. Leo for Reconciliation in the living room. Fr. Leo listened seriously as Pete ran through his more minor failings. "There's... uh. Something else, Father." "Go on." Pete swallowed. "I, uh. Saw something, when you were pulling me and Mark out. I saw Jamie." Leo's face was transfigured with compassion. "Oh, Peter. How... did he look?" Pete was crying freely now. "He looked peaceful, Father. I don't know if it was something real, or my imagination, or what. But he looked at peace." "As you are not." "No..." "What is it you need to confess, my son?" Pete sighed. "I've been beating myself up with guilt for years now. And it's destructive and wrong, but I don't know how to stop. I just don't." "I do not know what to tell you that you have not heard many times before, Peter; you know that you did no wrong, though none of us would envy the lot that fell to you that night. But hear this: Our Lord wants you to have peace, the peace He came to give us. It is not for you to manufacture; you must accept it from His wounded hands." Pete pondered that for a time. "Yeah. Maybe I'm just trying too hard." "You always have. For as long as I've known you, you have felt the need to save the world all by yourself. You forget that it has already been saved by Another!" After swallowing, "Okay. So I guess I need to confess pride, too." "Yes. Is that all?" "No. I hate Jacob, Father. He's my own brother, and I just plain hate him. I've never encountered anyone else, not even an enemy, who takes such pleasure in making me miserable." "I do not know Jacob well. But anyone could see that he feels the same way toward you." Peter flared, "That's not fair! He's tweaked me for leaving the Order every chance he gets! What does he know about it?! He's never had to..." Leo raised a hand to cut him off, inquiring mildly, "Are you here to confess Jacob's sins or your own?" Pete flushed. "Mine." "Very well. How have you acted on this hatred?" With a sigh, "I'm cold to him. I try to get under his skin. I take pleasure in his failures. Just now I bad-mouthed him to my family. ... And while I think the sense of what I said was true, I did exaggerate things out of spite." The priest considered that for a time, then said, "Our Lord calls you to love your brother, Peter. If you are unable to like him just now, so be it; you are not asked to generate feelings. Only to speak softly to him, to let provocations pass, and to help him when he is in need. And to pray for him without ceasing, precisely because you see him as an enemy. Those are things within our limited capacity." After wrestling with that for a time, Pete finally said, "I guess that's it." "Yes. For your penance, you are to tell Jacob about Jamie." Peter stared at him. "You can't be serious." "I am completely serious." "I ... think that's beyond my strength, Father." "I do not. You are poisoning yourself with guilt and giving yourself a martyr complex over it with respect to your brother. You must simply stop." Pete said despairingly, "He'll just use it to hurt me. To twist the knife." "If he does, Our Lord who forgave His enemies from the Cross will give you the strength that you need to bear it. Do you doubt this?" After a long, shuddering silence, Pete said, "...No. I guess not." "Then say the Act of Contrition." Peter fell on his knees and recited the ancient words. He had to choke them out through sobs about halfway through... Then Fr. Leo laid his hands upon his head and said words more mysterious and more powerful: "God, the Father of mercy, through the death and resurrection of His Son, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of the Church may God grant you pardon and peace; and I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Pete was silent under the priest's firm touch for a time. Then he whispered, "Amen." Fr. Leo lifted his hands and smiled at him, then finished the rite: "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good." "His mercy endures forever. ... Thank you, Father." "It is always a pleasure, Peter. Go in peace." NPC List: Mark, Ryan, the Demons, Goat, Billy, the disk-thing(s), the illusionist (possibly the same as the disk-thing), Thomas, Fr. Leo, Jake, darkhound pack, vampire, Jamie's memory, Teresa, Paddy, Jon, Kate. Thread List: Find out what's happening to Ryan. Protect Ryan from his old gang. Treat that damned illusionist to some payback. Free Ryan from the disk's spiritual hold. Free myself, for that matter. Take Goat down a peg or three. Make ready for the trip into Shadow. Find the guts to make a clean breast to Jake. Chaos Factor: 5 -> 6 New Scene: Mark wakes up, I think. Altered scene! Pete and Fr. Leo emerged from the living room to find Teresa bustling about the kitchen. "Mark's up. And he's hungry." "No surprise there." Going in the bedroom again, he found Mark talking animatedly to Thomas and Ryan. "Pete! I had the most incredible nightmare! Never had one so vivid. You rescued me again..." He sounded as if he wanted very much to believe it and looked desperately to Pete for confirmation. Dammit, Pete thought, Dad's going to try to bury it all again now. Q(Unsure): Does Leo spill the beans? NO. Fr. Leo looked to Pete for his reaction also, raising a brow. Peter said deliberately, "It wasn't a nightmare, Mark." To Thomas' indignant, stricken expression, he said, "I'm through lying to him, Dad." Leo beamed, Ryan looked ready to run for his life, and Mark was stunned. "Lying to me about what?" Fr. Leo beckoned to Ryan, who fled willingly enough. They withdrew, and soon Teresa came in. Pete locked eyes with his father. "You going to tell him, or shall I?" Mark, increasingly upset, said, "Tell me WHAT?!" Thomas asked plaintively, "Can't we at least wait for Catherine to get home?" "Dad... Kate's self-trained, yeah, but she's good. If it's important enough, she doesn't need a plane. Call her." "She surely doesn't know Mobility." "No, but she's got other tricks - she'll probably arrive at that tree in the yard she likes so much. Call her." Mark started to edge toward hysteria. "Will somebody please tell me what the HELL is going on?!" When neither of his parents corrected his profanity, he got if anything even more upset. Pete finally told him, "Hey. Hang in there, bro. All will be explained when Kate gets here, all right?" When Mark started to shout over him, he said, "Hey! Two rescues are worth a little patience, aren't they?" That shut him up. Thomas protested, "Jacob should be here..." "Oh for... He'll live. Call her. Or I will." Cowed, his father withdrew, pulling out his cell phone. Q(Very Unlikely): Does Jake make it in? YES. It happened faster than even Pete would have believed possible. Fr. Leo (who was considerably better with Mobility than Pete was) managed to fetch Jake, and Kate managed to witch her way into Pete's yard rather than the family home. Pete joked wanly to her, "Getting better, I see." She kissed his cheek. "Thanks, big bro." Eyes widened all around: Jake's and Kate's at Mark's battered condition, and Mark's and Kate's at Jake's knightly tunic and surcoat - he hadn't taken the time to change being fetched from the chapterhouse. Mark, exasperated, finally said, "NOW will somebody explain to me what's going on?!" Thomas sighed. "Peter, if you please?" Pete nodded, and set his hand to Invictus' hilt, drawing it forth from its sheath. He reversed the blade and knelt formally, presenting the hilt to his father. "À votre service, seigneur des Marches." Nobody breathed as Thomas gripped the hilt of Invictus, which began to glow. (Though it was no longer attuned to him, it always recognized the lawful Count.) Jake protested, "Father, the tradition..." "Enough, Jacob. The die is cast. I believe Peter is right in this." Thomas looked ten years younger in the light of the sword he had loyally borne for so many years. "Mark... Catherine. You already know our family's proud history as rulers of the County des Marches in Provence. But you do not yet know all." He began at the beginning. "For as long as the world has been, it has cast a Shadow: A darkling place, full of dread and doom. Fell beings lurk there, thirsting for the lifeblood of all who live. And for as long as the world has been, there have been those called to the defense of the world itself, to man the walls of Creation. Our ancestors were among them." "For untold ages, the Demarches have fought and bled and died in a secret war, a war on behalf of those who dare not know of it. Our deeds have been mostly unsung, our battles unseen. But God sees, and the angels sing." "Twelve centuries ago, a grateful King of the Franks granted to our illustrious ancestor Bertrand, first of his name, the county we have held all the long years since. You surely must have wondered why our lands are called 'the Border'? They are not particularly close to any other nation - we were meant from the first to stand guard against the dark." "And so when Holy Mother Church saw fit, three centuries later, to form the Order of St. Michael to oppose the Shadow, Bertrand's descendants were among the first to take vows. Every generation since, we have answered the call." "When Revolution came to our homeland, we fled; valuing life and the needs of our war over fear of dishonor. We have made a new home here, in the United States of America; yet we are still the blood des Marches. The love of Provence flows in our veins, yet our love for the world is stronger yet. We serve, as we have always served." "But though we have lost our land, we have a greater treasure yet: This sword, the blade Invictus. Unconquered, unconquerable, it cannot be broken save by its wielder breaking faith. It is wielded now by your brother Peter, my heir. Rise, Squire Peter." Pete's heart broke at the title. "Father..." "Rise. And receive that which has come down to you." Peter rose and accepted the blade from his father's hands. Raising it in salute, it continued to glow; the mark of his inheritance. "Mark and Catherine, your brothers, Peter and Jacob, have sought formation as Knights of St. Michael." Pete and Jake both looked ready to contest Pete's status, but Thomas quelled them both with a glance. He continued, "You need not do the same, when you are able. The call must be freely heeded and freely taken up. ... Our tradition has always been to reserve this knowledge from the young until they attain to the age of twenty-one years, but circumstances have dictated otherwise in this case. I am sure you have questions." Mark said at once, "Yeah. Where do I sign up?" Teresa sobbed once, then dried her eyes; she had long since accepted the family she had married into. The boy said, "I know, Mom. But the war's already found me, right? I may as well do some rescuing as well as being rescued." Here he grinned at Pete, who grinned back. Thomas could not contain his pride, but he strove to keep his voice neutral. "You will have to be Confirmed first, Mark, and then likely graduate from college; times change, and the Order follows the Church's modern rules in these things. But be you faithful and true, I doubt not but that you will be accepted." Kate broke in. "Okay. So the Church opposes this Shadow, I get that. And I think I've seen hints of it, enough to agree that it's worth opposing. But where does the magic fit in? How do you square what Pete and I do with the Catechism, Dad?" Mark asked, confused, "What you do? What do you mean?" Thomas looked to Pete, who replied, "We're mages, Mark. Wizards, sorcerers, whatever you want to call it. Some people have it, others don't. Kate and I do. And we're both damn good, if I do say so myself. The Demarche blood has always run strong." Kate had to grin at that. Mark struggled to come to terms with this. "Do I have it?" "Nope. And no, you almost certainly never will. Sorry." "...Is that how you did the rescuing?" "Yep. Along with a bit of chop-chop with Invictus here." He sheathed the blade. Kate waved. "Yoo hoo. Still awaiting an answer here." Pete turned to her. "Magic's a tool, a technology. There ARE evil things that can be done with it, things that the Church forbids. Both experience and Divine Revelation have shown that some things are simply never worth doing, are outrages against human nature. Trying to contact the dead, for example. Or trafficking with spirits. Or predicting the future. Things like that inevitably corrupt the people who try them, no matter how pure their motives are in the beginning." Kate's eyes narrowed. "So because I talk to fairies, I'm a witch and a sinner, is that it? Suffer not the witch to live?" Pete rolled his eyes. "Fairies aren't spirits, sis. Sheesh, you're powerful, but you just don't KNOW much. You need training, I keep telling you that." Kate blinked several times at that. Mark held up a hand. "Wait, wait, wait. Fairies?!" Pete laughed, and even Thomas cracked a smile. "Okay, look. The world casts a Shadow, right? But two things are needed to make a shadow - a light source, and the object that obstructs it. Opposite the Shadow is the Light. It's a source of life and energy and magic; the Shadow is a sink. Nothing lives in the Light itself - complicated! - but some things live here that have metabolisms based directly on the flow of Light. Traditionally we call them fey, but fairies will do. They're just people, like us, only generally more powerful. Some of them are decent folks, others are jerks, and a few are real scumbags. Heck, you know how in the Arabian Nights some djinni are good Muslims? That happens to be true. And some fey are good Christians too." Kate was flabbergasted. "Next you'll tell me there's an Archbishop of Faerie!" Pete looked to Thomas, the history professor. "That was tried in the 15th century, wasn't it?" Thomas paused to remember. "1437, as I recall. The Protestant Reformation bollixed things up so badly in Faerie that the title's mostly honorary these days, attached to the Primate of Ireland." Pete grinned at Kate's rising confusion. "See, one thing you really can blame the Protestants for!" Everyone was shocked when Kate suddenly burst into tears. Teresa went to embrace her, and when she started to calm, Pete (her favorite brother) asked her gently, "Kate? What's wrong?" "What's WRONG?! You all let me think I had to choose!" "Choose between what?" "Between my faith and what I AM!" Nobody had a reply to that. Thomas' voice trembled as he said, "Catherine..." Kate fought free of her mother and spat out, "Don't start, Dad. Just don't even start." She stormed out. Thomas started after her, but Jake (of all people) stopped him. "Let her go, Dad. She needs to work through a bunch of stuff, but she'll come back. I did, didn't I?" Pete looked at his brother with a faint spark of appreciation. Aloud he agreed, "She's a Demarche." Q(Likely): Does Leo take care of Kate? EXCEPTIONAL YES. Thomas bit his lip, then also agreed. "She's a Demarche." Then, to Peter, "I can see it's past time we rethought some family traditions." Mark inquired conversationally, "So, you're telling me this family has ALWAYS been crazy?" Everyone laughed hysterically at that, draining off a great deal of tension. Helpless with mirth, Pete and Jake leaned on each other... then mutually recoiled when they came to themselves enough to realize it. Meanwhile Teresa added pungently, "If the ones I've known are any indication..." Quoting the Bard, Thomas said, "I'll stop thy mouth," and kissed her thoroughly to whoops from the boys. NPC List: Mark, Ryan, the Demons, Goat, Billy, the disk-thing(s), the illusionist (possibly the same as the disk-thing), Thomas, Fr. Leo, Jake, darkhound pack, vampire, Jamie's memory, Teresa, Paddy, Jon, Kate. Thread List: Find out what's happening to Ryan. Protect Ryan from his old gang. Treat that damned illusionist to some payback. Free Ryan from the disk's spiritual hold. Free myself, for that matter. Take Goat down a peg or three. Make ready for the trip into Shadow. Find the guts to make a clean breast to Jake. Chaos Factor: 6 -> 5 [/QUOTE]

Verification